


Better With You

by KLS_09



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-03-16 05:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13629945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KLS_09/pseuds/KLS_09
Summary: Middle school crushes. High school drama. College life. A lot can happen in ten years.In the end, this is just another story about a group of friends, their feelings, and their complicated relationships.





	1. middle school crushes

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this was supposed to be a fluffy mihyo one-shot but that obviously didn't pan out...
> 
> i was reading another ff and came across the word "convoluted." It's strange how this one word inspired me to pump what ever the heck this is out of my brain. 
> 
> Maybe i'll work on the fluff mihyo piece another time. but for now...
> 
> Thanks and enjoy! <3
> 
> ~kesosauce~
> 
> (QUESTION: is that description cringy or is it jus me??)

Humming, Jihyo tapped her foot to the beat of the music flowing into her ears as she stood at the school’s front gate. A sudden yawn overtook her and she stretched her arms above her head, her eyes involuntarily squeezing shut. It was the third week of the new school year and she still wasn’t used to waking up so early. Peeking through one eye, she met the gaze of a girl walking through the gates with a ghost of a smile on her face. Jihyo’s eyes absentmindedly followed her as she hurried to join two other girls by the main building.

“That doesn’t mean you have to become obsessed with it too!"

"It does if it means catching her attention," Jeongyeon and Nayeon were making their way toward the school when they spotted the short brunette already waiting for them. "Here, let's ask Jihyo." Nayeon sauntered up to the younger girl and Jeongyeon followed suit.

"Jihyo-ah, please tell Nayeon that-" The short-haired blonde paused and looked at her friend quizzically when she didn't respond to her name, "Um, hello? Earth to Park Jihyo!"

Jihyo's head perked up and she whipped around to face them, pulling her earbuds out, "Hm? Oh, hey, good morning." She smiled lazily.

"Morning. What were you looking at?" Jeongyeon stepped around her to get a better look at the main building.

"Oh, nothing," Jihyo yawned again.

"Hey, that's her! Look at her bag! It's the same keychain as mine. I bought the right one!" Nayeon excitedly held up a puffy keychain in the shape of a mayonnaise bottle. Jeongyeon grasped her forehead with her palm and shook her head.

"What?" Jihyo furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Hirai Momo. The girl in that group you were staring at? With the mayo keychain? Nayeon's developed a little crush and now believes that she has to become obsessed with the same stuff she is," Jeongyeon filled her in, "including her love of mayo."

"Oh," the younger girl nodded and turned to look back at the group by the building just in time to find three sets of eyes staring at their own little huddle.

"Oh my god, they're looking at us." Nayeon whispered, eyes fixed on the three girls, "Just act natural." She raised a stiff arm in attempt to wave but suddenly straightened her palm and saluted instead.

Two of them smiled and nodded in sync, while the third stepped behind Mayo Keychain Girl - the apparent Hirai Momo. The trio turned and made their way into the building, giggling as they went.

Jeongyeon burst into laughter.

"What did I just do?" Nayeon's face froze, unreadable.

"Y-y-you, you saluted them," Jeongyeon gasped for breath between cackles, "like actually saluted them."

The older girl buried her face in her hands, ears burning with embarrassment.

"Okay, okay," Jihyo chuckled, placing both arms around her two best friends, "let's just get to class and forget this ever happened."

Jeongyeon shook her head vehemently, "NEVER."

Nayeon groaned.

 

 

~~~

 

 

It's always been like this, ever since the three of them met back in primary school. Jeongyeon and Nayeon would bicker, while Jihyo would just laugh at their antics before joining in on whatever argument they were having.

"I'm gonna do it!" Nayeon pounded the table with her fist determinedly.

It's been a while since Jihyo learned about Nayeon's little crush on Mayo Keychain Girl.

"Hirai Momo," Jihyo mentally corrected herself.

"Sure, you will,"Jeongyeon responded flatly and shoveled a heaping spoonful of rice into her mouth, "I can see it now: You salute her, get down on one knee, and present her with a bright pink bag filled with mayo packets and little stuffed animals. 'Will you go out with me, Momo? I swear I'm not creepy and only like this stuff because you do.'"

She mockingly clasped her hands under chin and batted her eyelashes, earning a hearty laugh from Jihyo.

"First of all," Nayeon side-eyed the blonde, "can we drop the whole salute thing? That was last month. I thought we were over it."

Her two companions exchanged looks and shook their heads.

" _NEVER._ "

"Second," she continued, "I just want to be her friend, not ask her out."

"Yet," Jeongyeon coughed. Nayeon rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of kimbab, dipping it in mayonnaise before shoving it into her mouth.

"I think it's a great idea," Jihyo chimed, taking a piece of Nayeon's lunch for herself, "we could use more friends to, y'know, mix things up a little. Sounds like fun!"

"What sounds like fun?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Surprised, the three girls looked up to see none other than the subject of their conversation herself, Hirai Momo.

"I just came over to tell you that I liked your keychain." Momo motioned towards Nayeon's bag. "Then I saw you guys dipping your kimbab in mayonnaise! I thought I was the only one who did that!" The bob-haired girl's eyes sparkled.

" _Oh._ " Now, Jihyo could see how Nayeon could have a crush on Momo; she was absolutely adorable. But then again, Nayeon thought a lot of things were adorable. Maybe this crush wouldn't last and she really did just want to be her friend.

"Anyway, so what sounds like fun?" Momo looked at Jihyo expectantly.

Nayeon gulped down her food and cleared her throat to catch Jihyo's attention.

"Hm?" Jihyo blinked, leaving her thoughts behind, and looked across the table to see Nayeon nodding her head in Momo's direction, "Oh, me. Um, making new friends?"

"Oh, yeah," Momo giggled, "that's always fun. I'm Momo, by the way."

"We know," Jeongyeon snickered under her breath. Nayeon elbowed her side.

"Huh?" Momo tilted her head questioningly.

"Nothing." Jeongyeon rubbed her rib cage. "Hi, Momo, I'm Jeongyeon and this is Nayeon and Jihyo."

Before Jeongyeon could say anything else, Nayeon jumped into action, "So, then in the spirit of friendship, what do you think about hanging out with us after school sometime next week?"

Just then, a high, clear voice called from across the cafeteria, "Momoring! We found a spot!"

"You can bring your friend," Nayeon quickly added, trying to elicit the response she wanted to hear.

Momo paused for a second, thinking, then nodded as if she had made up her mind, "Yeah, that actually does sound fun. Count us in!"

"Momoring?" the clear voice called again.

"Coming! See you next week then!" Momo waved and began to walk across the room. "Oh-" she whipped back around, recapturing the three girls' attention "-it was nice meeting you guys!" She saluted stiffly and ran off giggling.

Nayeon's entire face went red as Jeongyeon slapped her shoulder, laughing, and Jihyo gripped the table to keep herself from falling out of her chair.

 

 

~~~

 

 

"So, where is she?" Jeongyeon asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She picked up another pebble and added it to her mini stone mountain.

"I don't know, but she said she'd be here so just wait a little bit." They were on the steps in front of the main building, Nayeon sitting with her chin propped up on her hands.

"We've been waiting for almost half an hour already. I'm bored. I want cake." Jeongyeon plopped down next to the older girl after running out of pebbles to stack.

"You can get your cake when we head over to the cafe with Momo and her friend." Jihyo stood behind them, playing a game on her phone. 

Footsteps came pounding from around the building and they turned to see Momo bounding toward them with a girl in tow.

" _A really pretty girl,_ " Jihyo thought.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting! Sana, here, tripped so we had to go to the nurse's office for band-aids."

"And it took you thirty minutes?" Jeongyeon asked in a raised tone.

"We got...kinda...lost," the pretty girl sheepishly confessed. Jeongyeon looked up to see her rub her neck in embarrassment before feeling her own cheeks begin to flush.

"Yeah, Minari always has some handy whenever we need them," Momo explained, "so we've never really needed to go there before."

"Minari?" Nayeon stood up.

"Mina! Our cute little penguin maknae! She couldn't make it today." The pretty girl's mood lifted at the sound of her friend's name. "Oh! And my name's Sana, if you didn't catch it earlier."

She held out her hand.

Nayeon grasped it, smiling, "Nayeon. This is Jeongyeon and Jihyo."

"Nice to meet you, Jeongyeon!" Sana practically hopped in the blonde's direction, extending her reach, but she landed on the pile of pebbles and almost fell on her freshly bandaged knees again before Jeongyeon caught her arm. "Whew, close call! Thanks!"

Sana's eyes rounded and Jeongyeon couldn't help but relate her expression to that of a puppy's. She felt her cheeks flush even further.

"Um, oh, yeah, no-no p-problem," she stammered, steadying Sana on her feet, "Nice to meet you, too."

"Yeah, nice to meet you, Sana." Jihyo made her way down the steps, glancing at her faintly flustered friend.

" _That's new._ " She tried to hide the smile forming on her lips.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's go get that cake, Jeongyeon-ah!" The short girl skipped toward the front gate.

"Omg, cake sounds so good right now!" Momo jumped up and down, rushing forward to catch up with Jihyo.

"Cake always sounds good to you, Momoring," Sana let out an airy giggle.

The bob-haired girl pouted, "Shut up."

"Cake does sound good, though." Nayeon caught up to Momo's side, who smiled at the support.

"Do you wanna share?" Sana hooked her arm around Jeongyeon's. Jihyo noticed the tall girl's ears getting notably pink.

"Yeah, sure." Jeongyeon dropped her gaze to the ground, unsure of what to do.

Jihyo stopped for a second, allowing the four figures to pull ahead of her, and decided, " _Making new friends_  is  _fun._ "

 

 

~~~

 

 

Jeongyeon never really cared for the winter season. She always thought it was too cold and the snow got everywhere, making everything miserably wet and chilly. That's why Nayeon found it strange, seeing the tall girl acting so chipper as she watched the calm, white flurry outside.

"Sana's birthday is this month." Jeongyeon cupped her chin in her palms, staring up at the sky dreamily.

" _Oh, that's why._ " An unfamiliar warmth gathered in Nayeon's chest but she quickly dismissed it.

"How do you know?" She joined her friend by the hallway window.

"She told me."

Nayeon jerked her head, surprised, "What? When?"

"When we hung out at the park last weekend," Jeongyeon grinned, unaware of the small frown on Nayeon's face.

"You guys hung out?"

"Yeah, we're friends. That's what friends do." Jeongyeon brought her attention away from the scene outside the window (or rather, the memory inside her mind) to Nayeon, sensing the tension between them slowly growing thicker. "Why? Are we not allowed to hang out?" She asked, a little too accusingly for Nayeon's taste.

"No," the older girl twirled around to lean her back against the window pane, "TFTI is all."

Before their conversation could progress further, Nayeon caught a glimpse of Momo and Sana down the hall. They were talking to a third girl who Nayeon has seen hanging out with them couple of times before. Ketchup Keychain Girl she had mentally named her. Because of the ketchup bottle keychain on her bag, similar to the one she and Momo had.

"Momo! Sana!" She waved to catch their attention. Jeongyeon popped up straight and whipped around. 

The duo waved back, quickly enveloped Ketchup Keychain Girl in a double hug goodbye, and skipped over to join them by the window.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Momo patted Nayeon on the shoulder.

"Nothing much, just watcing the snowfall." Nayeon looked around them to watch Ketchup Keychain Girl glance at them down the hallway before turning to walk in the other direction. "Hey, who was that girl you two were talking to?"

"Hm?" Sana and Momo both cocked their head to the right in unison.

" _And the weird twin thing strikes again,_ " Nayeon tried to hide her shiver.

Ever since the five of them had started hanging out a couple months ago, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and herself noticed that the two new additions to their friend group had this strange, almost creepy, habit of doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

She looked to Jeongyeon to see if she had noticed it. They made eye contact as Jeongyeon tried to conceal her own small case of the chills. She had.

"Oh! That was Mina, I think we told you about her a couple times." Sana perched herself by the window.

"Oh, yeah, I think you told me about her while we were at the park." Jeongyeon resumed staring at the snow. "Something about a dance recital?" 

"Yeah! She had a ballet recital a couple days ago! It was beautiful, right, Momoring?"

"Yeah," Momo answered distractedly, her mind zoning in something Jeongyeon had said, "What's this about the park?"

"Remember this past weekend when I came over and my gloves were all soggy from the snow? Jeongyeon and I were building snowmen in the park before I went to your house." Sana continued to admire the scene outside the window.

"Oh," was all Momo said.

Nayeon looked over and swore she thought she saw something flicker in her eyes, but the bob-haired girl's expression quickly returned to her usual dazed state. Maybe Nayeon was imagining things.

"Hey!" Jeongyeon jumped up, "Why don't we throw Sana a birthday party? You guys can invite Mina!"

Sana and Momo looked at each other, their eyes lighting up at the same time.

"Oh my gosh, I would love that! You remembered my birthday!" Sana wrapped her arms around Jeongyeon's shoulders and placed a quick peck on her cheek.

Jeongyeon froze in place.

And there it was again, the heat in Nayeon's chest. Her gaze darted away only to lock eyes with Momo who wore the same expression. Both girls broke their connection and hastily cleared their throat.

"I can't wait for you guys to meet Mina! She's a little shy but she's honestly the sweetest person ever. Momoring and I have known her since we can remember." Sana released Jeongyeon's still rigid shoulders to throw an arm around her best friend.

Momo smiled, "Yeah, she always helps us with our homework and carries around snacks for us whenever we get hungry."

"And she bakes the most amazing cookies, like, they're so good. Maybe we can ask her to make some for the party." Sana bounced excitedly. Momo clapped.

"Ooh! I'm excited! Okay, I'll let Jihyo know when we go home later." Nayeon turned back to Jeongyeon. "So, I'll tell her it'll be at your house?"

She didn't answer.

"Hello? Yoo Jeongyeon? Anybody home?" Nayeon lightly knocked the crown of Jeonyeon's head with her knuckles.

"Huh?" Jeongyeon broke out of her trance. "Oh yeah, sure, my house. Winter break. I'll send you guys the details later."

"I can't wait to tell Minari." Sana began gushing again.

"I know! I can't wait to get one of those cookies." Momo's mouth watered.

"Yesss, me too," Sana began to salivate. Both girls gulped and wiped the corner of their mouths with sleeves. 

" _Two times in one sitting,_ " Nayeon unconsciously took a small step closer to Jeongyeon.

"Anyway, we gotta get to class." And with a wave, Sana and Momo walked away, huddled together, squealing about the upcoming event.

 

 

~~~

 

 

"Just one more! Please? " Sana's scarf muffled her usually clear voice. She clung to Mina's right arm as they walked down the snowy street.

"Yeah, just one more!" Momo was latched on her left side, also bundled up to the ears.

"No way," the younger girl gripped the tupperware in her hands tighter, her own muffler tickling her cheeks as she peered down, "You guys already ate four of them."

Sana looked confused, "What are you talking about? You only gave us three."

"Sana, I heard you burn yourself in the kitchen when I went to go grab another dish towel from the hall and then I saw you trying to clean the chocolate off Moguri's face." Mina gave her a stern look, "Also, there was obviously a cookie missing from the corner of the baking pan."

Momo leaned over to eye her partner in crime, "I told you she'd notice."

"Yeah, but then you pushed me to just take one!" Sana snapped back.

"Well, you shouldn't give in to peer pressure!"

"I was going to do it anyway!"

Mina tuned the two girls out. She knew that if she tried to get invloved, they'd just rope her into choosing a side and that was a decision Mina hoped to never make. They were her two oldest friends; how was she supposed to choose? Besides, she was used to their small, petty arguments like this. Whenever it happened she always opted to just let the two of them get it out of their system. They always managed to somehow make up in the end, so she never worried about it. (Mina liked to think it was because they were soulmates.)

It was where they were headed that made her anxious.

" _You can do it, Mina. It's only a few people. Plus Momo and Sana seem to like them a lot. You don't want to let them down._ " She sighed and tried to bury her face further into the wool around her neck.

Mina wasn't very good at making friends. She was awkward and quiet when it came to new people. The last time she made new friends was when she started ballet classes and that was years ago.

She felt a firm tug on her scarf and nearly toppled backwards. She suddenly noticed how quiet it had become.

She turned to see Momo and Sana staring at her.

"What are you guy-" Mina yelped in surprise as the duo jumped on her, smothering her with their joint hug.

"Aw, Minari, are you nervous?" Sana nuzzled Mina's cheek with her own. "They're all super nice and I'm sure they're gonna love you."

"Yeah, and we'll be there the whole time so you don't have to worry!" Momo gently pet her head.

Mina tried to break free from their embrace, "I'm not a baby, you guys."

"You hear that, Sana? Mitang says she isn't a baby." Momo playfully poked the apple of Mina's cheek with her mitten.

"But, Mina, you'll always be our little penguin maknae." Sana hugged her tighter.

Still trying to wiggle out of their grip, Mina voice grew hard, "Seriously, I can take care of myself now."

The two older girls pulled back, eyebrows raised.

"Aw, Momoring, our baby penguin doesn't need us anymore! What are we supposed to do now?" Sana feigned despair, dramatically bringing the back of her hand to her forehead.

Momo placed an arm around her in condolence, "I guess she can handle going to the party on her own."

Mina rolled her eyes. "It's your birthday party, Sana. You have to be there."

"If you don't need us, then I don't even see a point in having a birthday anymore." Sana took in exaggerated breaths, wiping fake tears from her eyes. Momo nodded, puppy eyes in full effect.

"Come on, guys, we're going to be late." Mina turned to continue down the sidewalk. She looked over her shoulder to make sure the other two were following but they had remained still. "Really? You're just going to stand there? Let's just go already. It's cold out here; you guys are gonna get sick."

"No! You don't need us!" Momo plopped down in the snow, pouting. Sana quickly joined her.

Mina inhaled and let out a deep sigh, "Fine. If I say I need you guys, then will you get up?"

"Depends..." Sana peeked over at the younger girl, a glint in her eye.

"Can we have another cookie?" Momo smiled mischievously.

Mina rolled her eyes again. " _So that's what they were after._ "

"Sure, yes. You can have a cookie." She looked down defeatedly at the parcel of sweets in her hands.

"Then say it." Momo and Sana commanded in sync.

"I need you. Please come to the party with me. I don't think I can do it without you guys." Mina's tone was flat.

The two girls sprung forward to grab the treat out of her hand, "Thank you, Minari!" They chimed in unison, their eyes forming cresents as they broke it in half and munched happily.

Mina couldn't help but giggle quietly.

" _You two are such a handful,_ " she tried to conceal the smile spreading across her lips, " _but at least you're both my handful._ "

"You're welcome; now let's go already." She turned to walk down the street once more, letting the smile break across her face freely. 

" _I don't think you'll ever know how much I really do need you two._ "

"What's with the smile, Mitang?" Sana had returned to her initial spot on Mina's right side.

"Oh, nothing." Mina closed her eyes and held out her left elbow for Momo to take.

The trio huddled closer together as they slowly made their way toward Jeongyeon's house.

 

 

\-----

A/N: okay sooo heads-up, updates may take a while and are more than likely going to be a little irregular. but some good news is that i already have most of chapter 2 done so ill try to get that update for you guys as soon as i can.

Thank you all again for reading! ((:


	2. obsessive cookie talk

The doorbell rang and Jeongyeon ran to answer it. "Hi, guys! Glad you could make it!"

Sana stepped through the doorway, "Of course, we made it, silly! You threw this party for _my_ birthday, remember?"

"Oh, right." Jeongyeon blushed.

"Hey, guys." Nayeon gave a nonchalant wave from the living room couch.

"Hi, Nayeon! Hi, Jihyo!" Momo rushed in, kicking her boots off, eager to escape the cold.

Jihyo offered a quick greeting from the ottoman next to the couch when her eyes landed on Ketchup Keychain Girl (Nayeon always kept her in the loop) tentatively stepping into the house, picking up Momo's haphazard shoes.

After neatly lining the shoes up by the door, Mina began to remove her own snow boots when a pair grey socks stepped into view.

"You must be Mina!"

Mina's eyes trailed up from the socks to the connecting legs to the oversized hoodie until they landed on a smiling face.

"Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Jeongyeon!" The blonde held out her hand.

Mina's heart rate quickened from the sudden greeting; she instinctively looked to Sana for help. Sana recognized the alarm in Mina’s eyes and smiled gently in return, calming her almost instantly. If Mina could count on anything to calm her down, it was Sana’s smile. The older girl then motioned for her to take a deep breath and nodded her head in encouragement.

Mina followed her directions and took a calming breath, a faint determination glowing in her eyes.

"H-hi, thanks for inviting me," she responded softly and took Jeongyeon's hand. Sana gave a thumbs up.

"We've heard a lot of things about you from Sana and Momo," Jeongyeon helped her to her feet.

"Oh." Mina looked to the other side of the room at Momo, who raised an eyebrow to gesture her to try to keep the conversation going. "Good things, I hope."

Jeongyeon chuckled, "Of course. They were all good things."

Sana moved to sling an arm around Mina's neck, "We love our Minari! Why would we ever say anything bad?"

"There's nothing even bad to to say," Momo stated, a sincere look in her eye.

"Shut up,” Mina mumbled, letting her gaze fall to the ground shyly.

"Aw, Mina," Sana pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek. Mina immediately pulled away and rubbed her cheek with a pout as the older girl attempted to nuzzle closer.

Jihyo watched Momo shake her head with a smile and walk over to join Nayeon on the couch. When she returned her attention to the entryway, she noticed Jeongyeon's initial bright smile starting to fade away.

" _Uh-oh, I know that look._ " She sprang off the ottoman and rushed to join them by the door.

"Hi, Mina! I'm Jihyo!" Jihyo slid across the tile floors. "Ah, those must be the famous cookies Momo and Sana were gushing over! Why don't we go find a plate for them in the kitchen, eh, Jeongyeon?" Jihyo snatched the container from Mina, shoved it into Jeongyeon's hands, and literally pushed the taller girl down the hall. "You two go ahead and make yourselves comfortable in the living room with Nayeon and Momo. We'll be right out!" She called out behind her.

 

~

 

Inside the kitchen, Jeongyeon got a serving plate down from the cabinet as per Jihyo’s abrupt suggestion out in the hallway.

"So, Mina seems cool, right?" Jihyo asked, trying to keep her tone aloof as she popped the lid off the tupperware.

"We literally just met her," Jeongyeon focused on transferring the cookies to the plate.

Jihyo busied her hands. "But I mean she, like, doesn't seem like a bad person."

"I guess," Jeongyeon trailed off, thinking. What was Jihyo trying to get at, rushing her in here and questioning her about Ketchup Keychain Girl?

"Jeongyeon," Jihyo turned to face her fully, "they're just friends."

"What are you even talking about right now?" Jeongyeon kept her eyes on what she was doing.

" _So, she's gonna play it that way, huh?_ " Jihyo huffed.

"Hey," she halted Jeongyeon's hands with her own, "I know."

The taller girl looked over, curious as to what she had to say, "You know what?"

"I know about you and Sana."

Jeongyeon's heart dropped. She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting the brunette to say but it certainly wasn't that.

"What about me and Sana?" Jeongyeon returned her attention to the cookies, picking them up with shaky hands and clumsily dropping them on the plate.

Jihyo paused to examine her friend's current state. Jeongyeon's ears had turned a light shade of pink and her hands moved awkwardly as she snapped the lid back onto the now empty container.

"That you like her." Jihyo started slowly, gauging her reaction.

Jeongyeon's eyes widened in panic and she nervously laughed, "What?"

"You've been acting different ever since we first met her and Momo back in September." Jihyo pushed a little further.

"I don't like Sana," Jeongyeon forced a scoff.

"Oh, really?" The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow, “Then what was with that look out there?”

"What look?"

"Come on," Jihyo was starting to get frustrated. She knew Jeongyeon was hardheaded but wasn’t this a little too much?

Jeongyeon threw her hands up, her shook her head, "What look, Jihyo?"

"Seriously?" Jihyo raised her eyebrows even further, a wrinkle creasing her forehead.

Jeongyeon shrugged.

" _That's it_." Jihyo was done tiptoeing around the subject.

"I saw the way you were looking at Sana when she was hugging that Ketchup Keychain Girl!" Stunned at her own outburst, Jihyo searched Jeongyeon's face for any sign of retaliation but it was blank.

They stood in uncomfortable silence until Jeongyeon clicked her tongue, "Okay, fine. You caught me. So what if I do like her?"

"N-nothing!” The sudden honesty took Jihyo by surprise, she didn’t know how to respond to such a blatant question.

There was another awkward pause when Jeongyeon had a sudden realization, “Does Nayeon know too?”

Jihyo remained silent and averted her eyes away sheepishly.

She and Nayeon had always speculated the idea on their walks home. (Actually, now that Jihyo thought about it, Nayeon had started to act a little strangely whenever the subject came up.)

“Am I that obvious?” Jeongyeon groaned.

The shorter girl patted her friend on the shoulder, “Just a little.”

Jeongyeon banged her forehead down on the countertop.

“Don’t worry!” Jihyo urged, “We don’t think Momo and Sana have caught on.”

“ _Which is hard to believe with the way you just stare at her._ ”

“They haven’t?” Jeongyeon lifted her head.

“I don’t think so,” Jihyo reassured her. “Which means you shouldn’t let your feelings get in the way of judging Mina. They might get the wrong impression.”

“They won’t, they’re not.”

The younger girl narrowed her eyes, “We literally just talked about the way you looked at them when they were hugging.”

Jeongyeon squinted back.

“They're just friends." Jihyo enunciated.

"Ughhh, I know you're right but still," Jeongyeon started to play with her hands, "It's just kinda hard not to get jealous."

Jihyo watched her fidget. "You must really like her."

They locked eyes before Jeongyeon looked away, nodding, the corners of her mouth pulling up at a slight angle.

"Jeong! I've never seen you like this before!" Jihyo reached up to ruffle her blonde locks.

Whining, Jeongyeon swatted her hand away.

"I know!" Jihyo removed her hand from Jeongyeon's head to firmly grip her shoulder. " Since they're such good friends, why don't you try to get to know Mina better? Maybe if Sana sees how enthusiastic you are about getting to know her, she'll like you more!"

"Oh my god, Jihyo, that actually might work. You're a genius!" Jeongyeon hugged her.

"I have my moments." Jihyo pulled away and flipped her hair. "Now let's go out there and get to know this Ketchup Keychain Girl."

 

~

 

"Aaand we're back!" Jeongyeon announced as she and Jihyo made their way into the living room. She plopped down in the empty spot on the ground next to Sana.

“Finally!” Momo and Sana pounced on the plate of cookies as soon as Jeongyeon set it down on the coffee table.

Jihyo walked around the commotion to assume her spot on the ottoman, next to the end of the couch where Mina was sitting. “So, what were you guys up to?”

“Jush introdushing Minga an Nayeong,” Momo said through a mouthful of cookies.

“Yeah, it lasted for like a second before they started obsessing over those cookies,” Nayeon poked Momo’s cheek.

Momo finished chewing and gulped audibly, “How can we _not_? These cookies are the best cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life. They're amazing.” She swiped two more with both hands.

“I don’t know about amazing...” Mina’s quiet voice came from the end of the couch.

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Mina. They are amazing.” Sana was still nibbling on her first cookie (or really her third if she was counting all the ones she and Momo split before) when she began to reach for another.

“Speaking of introductions before obsessive cookie talk, sorry about the quick one out there before disappearing into the kitchen. Allow me to reintroduce myself: I’m Jihyo.” The brunette beamed and extended her hand towards the couch.

Mina shifted toward the ottoman and was immediately drawn in by Jihyo’s round eyes. There was something about them, something warm, something safe. She couldn’t help but smile back. She didn’t know why but Jihyo didn’t make her as nervous as most people would.

Her eyes softened as she shook her hand, “Nice to meet you, Jihyo. I’m Mina.”

“ _So pretty..._ ” Jihyo stared. Realizing she was still holding Mina’s hand, she broke out of her trance.

“Okay, now that all the introductions are out of the way, we may continue on with the obsessive cookie talk.” She leaned over to grab a cookie off the plate. “Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

“Wait!” Jeongyeon threw her hand up.

Jihyo almost dropped her cookie at the sudden exclamation, “What?”

“Let’s take the first bite at the same time.” The blonde suggested.

“Good idea!” Sana shook her hands in excitement.

“We should give the cookie the honor it deserves.” Jeongyeon took a cookie with both hands and cradled it in front of her. Sana giggled.

“You’re so weird, but I guess I’m down. If Momo and Sana are this crazy about them, then they must be good.” Nayeon reached out and Momo handed one to her.

Mina hesitantly spoke up, “Y-you really don’t have to-”

“Okay, ready?” Sana stuck her hand in the air.

“Three, two, one!” Momo excitedly joined Sana in her countdown.

Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Nayeon bit into their cookies.

“Oh my god.” Jeongyeon took a second bite.

“Mina, these cookies are really good.” Nayeon turned to the girl at the other end of the couch. Jeongyeon shook her head vigorously and wagged her finger at the older girl in agreement.

Jihyo chuckled, “You guys weren’t lying.”

“See? Told you they were amazing.” Momo hooked her arm around Mina and pulled her in for a hug.

“Thanks," the shy girl smiled bashfully.

In the corner of her eye, Jeongyeon watched Sana look lovingly at her two best friends, reminding her of the advice Jihyo had given her in the kitchen.

“Sooo, Mina, where are you from?” She finished her cookie and reached out for a second.

Mina was caught off guard by the sudden question and her pupils dilated. “Um, I’m actually from Japan.” She sat up straight. “But, I moved here when I was still young.”

“Oh, whaaat? That’s cool! Did you go to a Japanese preschool like Momo and Sana?” Jeongyeon tried her best to look as interested as she could and leaned forward to show it.

“Y-yeah, I went to the same one they did; that’s where I met them.” Momo pat Mina’s back gently; she relaxed a little.

“Whoa! So, you’ve all known each other since preschool? That’s crazy! I've only known Nayeon and Jihyo since primary school. These two must have been a handful back then!” Jeongyeon pressed on.

“We weren’t!” Momo and Sana protested in unison.

“Yeah, right,” Jeongyeon chuckled.

Nayeon narrowed her eyes, “ _What’s with the sudden interest in her now?"_

“No, they really weren’t.” Mina felt a little more at ease, happy to be talking about her best friends.“They were actually kind of like my knights in shining armor.”

“Hold up,” Nayeon choked, “What did you just say?”

Mina’s back stiffened at her reaction. “U-uh, well, they kind of fended off some kids that used to,” her voice trailed off, “...pick on me.”

“Pick on you?” Jihyo questioned, surprised. All eyes were on Mina and Jihyo could see how uncomfortable the subject made her.

“ _Oh, god. Was that too much? Why did I bring that up, of all things?_ ” Mina’s head began to slowly shrink into her neck and her ears started to burn. Across the table, she saw Sana look from her to Momo, urging the latter to do something about the situation, and soon felt Momo’s hand return to the small of her back.

Momo held eye contact with Sana, searching for a way to calm Mina down, “Yeah, um, Mina was more of a reserved type and liked to keep to herself back then so some of the boys in school thought it’d be funny to tease her about it.”

Sana shot back a sardonic glare and shook her head. Trying to remedy the situation even further, she quickly added, “But Momoring and I showed them who was boss in no time.”

“ _No, that just made it worse… now they know that I was bullied_ because _I was a loner,_ ” Mina shut her eyes tight and held her breath, waiting for the mocking and taunting to begin.

“Wow, who would’ve thought these two dummies had a heroic side to them.” Nayeon ruffled Momo’s hair.

“ _Huh?_ ” Mina slowly opened her eyes to find the room’s attention had shifted to the two other girls on the couch. “ _Oh, thank god,_ ” she sighed in relief.

Jihyo took note of Mina's sigh and noticed how her shoulders relaxed slightly as the attention moved away from her.

“Hey! Sana and I are very heroic!” Momo tried to avoid Nayeon’s hand.

Nayeon giggled and moved her hand to wipe some chocolate from Momo’s cheek, “Oh, sure, the definition of noble and gallant.”

“My question is why anyone would do something like that in the first place?” Jihyo felt her heart beat faster, pumping newfound adrenaline throughout her body. She’s always had a strong sense of justice and hearing that a person as sweet as Mina used to get bullied made her blood boil.

“Uh-oh, Justice Jihyo is here. Everyone brace yourselves for a lecture.” Jeongyeon jokingly cowered away.

“No, but seriously, that’s so messed up. It’s so annoying that people would do that.” The short girl’s face contorted in a cross between anger and disgust. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

It was odd, but Mina found herself falling into the girl’s twisted expression. She really admired Jihyo’s sense of righteousness. She thought it made her really cool (despite how lame it sounded).

“Right?” Sana agreed, “But after Minari started taking ballet lessons, things definitely started to get better.”

“Oh yeah, Mina, Sana told me you were a great ballet dancer.” Jeongyeon continued on with her mission to show Sana how interested she was in her friends.

“Hm?” Mina tore her gaze away from the girl on the ottoman. “Ballet? Um, I’ve been taking lessons for about 7 years now,” She spoke quietly, unsure what they were actually talking about. If she was being honest, she was still fawning over how cool Jihyo looked taking a stance against the bullies from her past.

“I heard you had a recital earlier this month,” Nayeon side-eyed Jeongyeon, recalling the _almost_ argument they had in the school hallway. Then she remembered Momo’s reaction upon learning about Sana and Jeongyeon's little park outing from that day and turned to see her eyeing them across the table.

Hearing about Mina's recital, Jihyo's genuine interest overpowered her annoyonce with past bullies and she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the arm of the couch, “Ooh! How’d it go?”

Mina was well aware of the close proximity of the brunette but didn’t feel the need to move away. In fact, she was strangely happy to see how curious Jihyo was in her hobby. She found herself turning to address her directly, “It went well, I think. But I could probably do with some improvements.”

“What are you talking about, Mina? It was beautiful!” Sana gushed.

“Yeah, it was one of your best performances in my opinion,” Momo agreed.

“I don’t-”

Jeongyeon’s voice boomed over the shy girl’s, interrupting her, “So? What are you waiting for?”

“Eh?” Momo, Sana, and Mina voiced the confusion. Mina prayed Jeongyeon wasn’t asking her to do what she thought she was asking her to do.

“Show us some ballet!”

Mina’s heart dropped. Jeongyeon had asked her to do  _exactly_  what she thought she was going to ask her to do. But she couldn’t just start dancing right then and there. “ _What if I mess up? Then they’ll think I’m actually really not that good and laugh._ ” Sure, she’s been dancing for a while now but she’s never had to do it so spontaneously; she had a ritual she liked to do before every performance.

Jihyo saw the panic set in in Mina’s eyes and heard a slight desperation in Momo’s voice when she spoke up.

“Aw, nobody else really wants to see that right now. Right, Nayeon? You don’t really wanna see it,” the bob-haired girl still had her hand on Mina’s back, rubbing quick, small circles to let her know she’s try her best to help her avoid having to dance so suddenly.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind.” Nayeon sat up, unaware of the distress of the three foreign girls in the room, “I’ve always kinda admired dancers.”

Jeongyeon began to whine, “See? Come on! Just, like, a little snippet; like one move.” She began to pound the coffee table with her fist,” One-move! One-move!” she chanted, staring down the timid girl.

"She can’t, she h-”

“Mina!” Jihyo interrupted Sana’s attempt to halt the blonde’s pressuring. “Can you help me in the kitchen for a minute?”

The other two Japanese girls looked at Jihyo quizzically but the round-eyed girl was focused on Mina. Sana and Momo then exchanged glances.

“ _What’s going on?_ ” Momo cocked her head to the right

“ _I don’t know, but it looks like Mina’s okay with it._ ” Sana nodded, gesturing Momo to look over.

Mina was extremely rattled from all the attention to say the least but when she heard Jihyo call her name, a strange calm settled within her and she locked eyes with her once more. Jihyo raised her eyebrows slightly as if to tell her to trust her. Mina didn’t know why but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she did.

“Umm, sure,” as soon as she heard Mina's small voice, she grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen.

 

~

 

Mina followed closely behind Jihyo, staring at their connecting hands. She almost bumped into her when the shorter girl stopped abruptly and turned to face her. Mina met her unblinking gaze, “So what did you need help with?” she asked.

“Nothing, actually. It just looked like you wanted to get out of there.” Jihyo studied Mina’s face. Any sign of nervousness or anxiety she had displayed out in the living room had disappeared. Jihyo sighed in relief.

Mina’s lips pursed into a small pout and Jihyo felt the corner of her mouth pull up from how cute it looked. “Oh no, was it that noticeable? I-I don’t mean it as a bad thing, I just have a weird thing with meeting new people…I’m not very good at talking to them.”

“ _But why is it so easy to talk to you?_ ” Mina downcast her gaze.

“I don’t really blame you, to be honest. Jeongyeon and Nayeon can be really pushy and out there sometimes,” Jihyo saw Mina looking down and assured her, “But they’re good people, I swear!”

Mina chuckled quietly and looked up, “Thanks.”

An awkward pause settled between them, when they both realized they were still holding hands. Mina quickly unclasped her fingers while Jihyo slowly retracted her hand from the grip.

“Anyway,” Jihyo cleared her throat, “Why don’t we come up with some sort of signal?”

“Signal?” Mina furrowed her brow.

“Yeah,” Jihyo began to pace around the kitchen, “Like, if one of us needs a break from a conversation or wants to get out of something, we can use the signal and help each other out.”

Mina was still a little confused, “But what would the signal be?”

“Hmm,” Jihyo tapped her chin with her finger, “Something subtle. Something that doesn’t seem out of place but would be easy for the both of us to pick up on.”

“What about coughing then crossing out arms?” Mina suggested.

“That might be too subtle…” Jihyo thought harder. “What about winking?” She winked to show her.

Mina blushed. She knew Jihyo didn’t mean it in _that_ way but it still made her heart flutter for a second. “I can’t wink very well.”

“Oh, that’s okay! Then what can we do…” The brunette squeezed her eyes shut in concentration.

“What if we just tugged on our earlobes like three times in a row?”

Jihyo’s eyes lit up, “We could do that. It's easy and won't attract a lot of attention; it's perfect! Okay, so whenever one of us wants out of a conversation just pull on your earlobe three times,” She confirmed.

“Got it.” Mina gave her a determined look. “By the way, thanks again for helping me avoid dancing out there.”

“Of course!” Jihyo beamed. “What else are friends for?”

 

~

 

“Hey, guys did we miss anything?” Jihyo and Mina re-entered the room. Momo and Sana watched their best friend return to her seat on the couch, making sure she was alright.

“Sana and Momo were just telling us that you and Mina are the same year at school.” Jeongyeon was acting as enthusiastic as ever, trying to show Sana how interested in Mina she was.

“Oh, really?” Jihyo glanced at Mina.

“Have you guys ever had a class together?” Jeongyeon pressed.

Jihyo pondered, trying to recall seeing Mina in any of her classes, “I don’t think so?”

“We haven’t had a class together, but I have seen her around before,” Mina spoke up, “At the beginning of the year, she was standing at the front gate probably waiting for you two, I think.”

“What? I don’t remember anything.” Jihyo scratched her head.

“Sure you do!” Momo piped up.

Sana’s voice rose higher in excitement, “We were all there!”

“What are you guys saying?” Nayeon looked around the room, getting a little irritated that she couldn’t figure out what they were talking about.

Momo whipped around and nudged her teasingly, “You should remember that day the best, Nayeon!”

“Why?”

At the exact same moment, Momo and Sana jumped to their feet and faced each other. They raised their right hands in sync and stiffly saluted one another.

Everyone burst into laughter.

(Everyone except Nayeon of course.)

 

\-----

A/N: hope chapter 2 met everyones expectations > < anyway, as i said, updates will be extremely irregular so please bear with me..but yall might wanna stick around cause we're skipping ahead to the high school years for chapter 3!! hehehe ^^

 **QUESTION/POLL:** are there any male idols you guys want to see make an appearance? Like 1 or 2? if there arent any suggestions ill just use generic english names lol


	3. one-sided

Humming, Jihyo tapped her foot to the beat of the music flowing into her ear as she stood at the school’s front gate. Beside her, with the other earbud stuck in her ear, Mina nodded her head along to the same melody. Sana stood behind Jihyo, playing with her brown locks, while Momo and Nayeon giggled on their phones. Jihyo absentmindedly watched the middle school students enter the school across the street.

“Yah, where’s your girlfriend, Sana?” Jihyo tilted her head slightly to direct her question to the girl behind her. Nayeon and Momo’s giggling ceased as soon as the word “girlfriend” left the brunette’s mouth.

“I dunno,” Sana finished the braid she was working on and started a new one, “She said she was gonna meet us here, right?”

“Oh, there she is,” Mina pointed across the street. Everyone followed the direction of Mina’s finger to see Jeongyeon jogging across toward them, calling for two middle school students to follow her.

“Why is she at the middle school?” Momo squinted, “And who are those two?”

Nayeon perked up, a warm smile breaking across her face, “Oh my gosh, is that-”

“It’s Chaengie and Dahyunnie!” Jihyo finished the older girl’s exclamation and rushed up to meet the three approaching girls. Nayeon sauntered after her, arms open for a hug.

“Jihyo unnie! Nayeon unnie!” the two younger students broke into a sprint and ran past Jeongyeon, straight into Jihyo and Nayeon’s waiting embrace.

“Look who’s finally back!” Jeongyeon caught up to the little reunion huddle.

“How are you two?” Jihyo pulled back from the hug, “It’s been, what, two years since we’ve seen you?”

“You guys grew so much!” Nayeon ruffled the dark hair of one of the girls.

“Chaeng didn’t grow that much while we were away,” the dark haired girl’s eyes formed crescents as she laughed mockingly at the obviously short girl next to Jihyo.

“Hey, shut up! That was uncalled for!” the short girl’s eyes furrowed and her lower lip jutted out. “Jihyo unnieee, tell her to stop,” she whined.

The dark haired girl continued to wiggle her finger teasingly in her direction, earning a high-five from Jeongyeon. The shorter girl responded by sticking out her tongue at the both of them.

“Still lively as ever, I see,” Jihyo wrapped her arm around the her and rubbed her shoulder.

“Where’d you go again?” Nayeon questioned.

“We were studying in the countryside,” the dark haired girl heaved an exaggerated sigh, “Chaeyoung wanted to ‘get away for a while.’” She made air quotations.

The apparent Chaeyoung, punched the other girl on the shoulder, “No on asked you to come. You only came because if I left, you’d have no friends to hang out with.”

“Ugh, so not true! That girl in our music class was my friend!” the dark haired girl shot back.

“You wish! She was just the other pianist. She _had_ to sit next to you.”

“Ahem.” Everyone turned to face the three girls still standing by the high school’s entrance.

“Oh!” Jeongyeon ran over, grabbed Sana’s hand (Momo didn’t miss the way their fingers interlaced) and led them over to the rest of the group. “This is my cousin, Son Chaeyoung,” she gestured toward the short, cute, pouty girl next Jihyo then turned to the pretty, dark haired girl by Nayeon, “And her friend, Kim Dahyun. They go to the middle school across the street.”

“Hi!” Momo and Sana both raised their hands in greeting, bowing their heads slightly.

“That’s Momo,” Sana shot a finger gun at the bob-haired girl.

“That’s Sana,” Momo fired back.

“And this is Mina,” the duo each rest a hand on the younger girl’s shoulders.

Nayeon’s jaw dropped, “What _the hell_ was that?”

Sana’s eyes rounded, “What? It’s just a little greeting we came up with.”

“You guys practiced that?” Jihyo stifled a laugh.

“Yeah! Even Mina has a part!” Momo nudged the younger girl forward.

Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Jihyo’s curiosities peaked. They’ve come to know Mina as a rather reserved girl that rarely put herself in the spotlight (except if it was for a ballet recital, of course) or did anything that might prove to be even remotely embarrassing. But they also knew that she loved Momo and Sana so much she would do almost anything they asked of her.

All eyes were on Mina as she bowed her head in pre-embarrassment. She brought her right hand up to her head with her pinky, pointer finger, and thumb sticking out as she recited in a barely audible voice, “In the name of the moon, we will punish you.”

Momo and Sana made the same hand gesture and posed awkwardly on either side of her.

Nayeon and Jihyo just stared at the trio in shock, secondhand embarrassment causing their fingers to curl.

“Pfft,” Jeongyeon broke into a cackle, “When did you guys come up with that? When you were like six?”

“No!” Sana pouted, “We were eight, actually.” She slapped Jeongyeon’s arm. The tall girl grabbed her hand and pulled her in closer to whisper something in her ear, earning another mischievous shove from Sana. Jeongyeon placed a quick kiss atop Sana’s head as the light haired girl interwove their fingers once more.

Momo eyed the couple, unconsciously clenching her jaw. Nayeon cleared her throat to get her attention. Their eyes met and Nayeon raised an eyebrow. The bob-haired girl gave a small nod in return. She immediately began coming up with an excuse for not being able to join the group at lunch later today.

Dahyun clapped enthusiastically, “Well, I thought it was cute!” She smiled and caught Mina’s gaze. The shy girl smiled warmly back. “What about you, Chaeyoung-ah?”

Chaeyoung didn’t answer. Her eyes were glued to the beautiful girl next to her cousin, watching them exchange hushed whispers. She stared at their linked hands and felt a warmth creep across her chest.

“Chaeyoungie?” Jihyo pulled the younger girl out of her thoughts. Her face went blank for a couple seconds as she blinked a couple times.

Dahyun recognized the gesture; Chaeyoung always did it when she was trying to clear her head. The dark haired girl wondered what her friend was thinking so hard about and made a mental note to ask her about it later.

For now, she’d focus on trying to make a good first impression. “Yah! Son Chaeyoung! Are you just going to ignore your unnie’s question like that?” Dahyun jokingly teased.

“What?” Chaeyoung finally answered.

“Say something to our new friends!” Dahyun jerked her head toward the three girls, then turned to face them and smiled sweetly.

Momo giggled at the contrast between the girl’s gruff command and her cute smile.

“Oh,” Chaeyoung’s expression brightened, a toothy grin finding its way onto her face, “It’s nice to meet you guys! Let’s have fun this year.”

“Oh my god, you are adorable!” Sana stepped forward, reaching her hands out to cup Chaeyoung’s face. “Why didn’t you tell me you had such a cute cousin, Jeongyeon?” The shorter girl’s smile faded and a deep blush spread across her cheeks.

Dahyun noticed and drew over Sana’s attention, “What about me? Am I not cute?” She brought her hands up to her chin in a V-shape as she batted her eyelashes.

“Ugh,” Nayeon pretended to gag. Dahyun frowned and shoved her away.

Sana chuckled and removed her hands from Chaeyoung’s face to pat Dahyun on the head, “Of course, you’re cute too!”

“Okay, okay,” Jeongyeon grabbed Sana’s elbow and dragged her back to her side, “Dahyun,” she raised a threatening eyebrow, “Stop flirting with my girlfriend. And Chaeyoung?”

The younger girl looked up at her cousin nervously.

“Stop being so charming.” Jeongyeon winked.

“Ew,” Jihyo interjected, “I never want to see Yoo Jeongyeon wink again.”

Jeongyeon looked over sleazily and shot the brunette another wink.

“And with that, I think we should all be heading to homeroom.” She turned to the two middle schoolers, “See you two later!”

Nayeon ruffled the two girls’ hair, “Yeah, I better see you kiddos more often now that you’re back!”

“Don’t worry! You will.” Dahyun ducked away from her hand and called out, “It was nice meeting you guys! Let’s have fun this year, like Chaengie said!”

Chaeyoung elbowed Dahyun’s side, “Nice meeting you guys!”

“It was nice to meet you too,” Mina bowed.

Momo and Sana followed suit and bowed their heads, coming up at the same time, “Let’s have fun this year!” they said in sync.

“Whoa…” Dahyun’s hand grabbed Chaeyoung’s elbow instinctively. “How’d they do that?” she whispered.

“It happens all the time.” A shiver ran down Nayeon’s spine, “You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but it’s still as creepy as the first time.”

 

~

 

“Nayeon?” Momo poked her head through the bathroom door.

She gasped when she was suddenly pulled inside and shoved against the wall, the older girl assaulting her lips. Momo’s surprise dissipated as she melted into Nayeon’s frenzied grip on her waist, kissing her back with the same desperate fervor.

These secret make out sessions had become a regular thing for them. They used to only take place every so often, when Momo would go to Nayeon’s house for a _study_ date. But Nayeon had recently discovered a forgotten bathroom at the end of a long hallway on the far side of school, leading to more frequent meet ups.

“So, what was the excuse this time?” Nayeon managed to ask between heavy breaths.

Momo pulled back, “I’m helping the new kid, Lucas, with the new routine for the dance team.” She leaned in to take Nayeon’s lips before pulling away once more, smiling mischievously at the way the older girl whined when she did so. “What was yours?”

“Studying,” Nayeon answered quickly and dove back in, wrapping her arms around Momo’s neck to ensure she wouldn’t pull away again.

Momo chuckled, “We sure are eager today.”

“After seeing you get all worked up watching them flirt this morning?” Nayeon smirked. “What can I say? Jealous Momoring is hot.”

“Jealous Nayeon isn’t so bad herself.” Momo simpered. “Just thinking about how you looked the first time you told me you liked-”

Nayeon jerked her head away from the younger girl’s, “I thought we agreed we wouldn’t explicitly say it?”

“Sorry, you’re just so cute when your annoyed.” Momo dipped her head to bring their lips back together.

Their meet ups weren’t always like this. Back in middle school, they really did start out as study dates, going to each others’ houses and cafes to cram for upcoming quizzes and exams. But shortly after they entered high school, Nayeon decided she and Momo had grown close enough for her to confide in the bob-haired girl.

It was after a study session that had run much later than they anticipated; Nayeon had told Momo to just sleep over so she wouldn’t have to go home in the dark. They were in Nayeon’s bed, ready for sleep to find them, when Nayeon spoke into the darkness, “Momo?”

“Mm,” Momo lazily answered.

“I have a confession.”

The drowsy girl’s voice was suddenly attentive, “What is it?”

Nayeon concentrated on the ceiling, “I liked you.”

Momo smiled and tilted her head to look at the older girl. “Aw, I like you too, Nayeon.”

“No, like, I used to have a crush on you.”

“Oh,” Momo paused, “Used to?”

“Ever since I met you, Sana, and Mina, I got these weird feelings whenever we all hung out together.”

Momo looked toward the ceiling, “Uh huh.”

“And then Sana and Jeongyeon started going out.” Nayeon paused. Momo remained silent, anticipating what was coming next. Nayeon took a deep breath, “And I think I like Jeongyeon.”

The statement hung in the air. An uncomfortable tension settled over the two girls as they laid there in the dark, Nayeon’s confession ringing in their ears.

“Momo?” Nayeon’s voice shook, “Please say something.”

“I think,” Momo shut her eyes tight, “I think I might like Jeongyeon too…”

“ _There_. _I actually said it out loud_.” Momo felt small pressure lift off her. The thought had crossed her mind once or twice (okay, more than she would care to admit), but she had never actually voiced the idea that she could have feelings for the tall blonde. Of course she felt happy that her best friend had found love, she just couldn’t help but feel a tightening in her chest whenever she saw Jeongyeon and Sana together.

Momo rolled back over to see Nayeon staring back at her. Maybe it was the heightened vulnerability from the confessions they just exchanged or maybe it was the moonlight filtering through the bedroom window that reflected in Nayeon’s eyes, Momo wasn’t quite sure, but the next thing she knew, her lips were on Nayeon’s.

It wasn’t a kiss per se, but, nonetheless, Momo immediately pulled away and choked out an apology, covering her burning cheeks, “Sorry! I don’t –”

Suddenly, Nayeon pressed their mouths together, swallowing the rest of the younger girl’s words and engulfing her in a kiss. A real, heated kiss.

And that’s how they ended up here, in a forgotten bathroom at the end of a long hallway on the far side of school.

Momo flipped their positions so that Nayeon’s back was pushed up against the hard tile wall. She was about to move in on the tender flesh of the older girl’s neck when the bell rang, marking the end of their lunch break.

Nayeon groaned. Momo chortled and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Hey, don’t we have a big geometry exam coming up?”

Nayeon’s eyes lit up, “Why yes we do, Hirai. We should probably start studying for that soon.”

“How about tomorrow at my house?” Momo ran her finger nails up and down Nayeon’s arm.

“No, sooner. My house, tonight, 7 o’clock.” She pushed off the wall and winked at the bob-haired girl before slipping out of the bathroom.

 

~~~

 

A gust of chilly autumn wind blew through the school quad. Mina wrapped her coat tighter around her body and took a deep breath. She smiled. She loved fall; it was her favorite season. She loved watching the leaves dance through the air in a bright, colorful flurry and the air seemed to take on a crispness that nipped at her nose and cheeks.

“ _Looks like it’s gonna be a cold one this year,_ ” a small shiver ran down Mina’s spine. She didn’t mind though, that just meant she had an excuse to go to more cafes and cling onto a certain someone’s arm for warmth.

As she made her way to her next class, she spotted that certain someone across the way, on the other side of the lawn.

Mina’s heart beat faster and her stomach filled with a fluttering sensation at the sight of the girl across the lawn. The corners of her mouth pulled up, revealing a gummy smile. She lifted her hand to wave her over but she stopped when she saw that she was already engrossed in conversation with what looked to be one of the more popular boys in school, Kang Daniel.

“ _I wonder what they’re talking about,_ ” Mina watched a grin spread across the girl’s face as she giggled and hit Daniel playfully. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled shyly back. Their conversation seemed to have ended, as they nodded at each other and he walked away.

Mina continued to watch the girl as she did a cute little happy dance when she suddenly looked up and locked eyes with her.

“Mina!” Jihyo waved and ran over.

The brunette’s hair washed over Mina’s face as she caught her in a hug, but Mina didn’t care. A bright citrus scent washed over her senses and she closed her eyes, briefly basking in it, before (reluctantly) pulling away.

“Hey, Jihyo,” she smiled, “I was gonna say hi but it looked like you were busy. Was that Kang Daniel?”

“Oh my god! Mina! He asked me out! Kang Daniel asked me out!” Jihyo’s ringing tone cut through the brisk air. She clutched at Mina’s hands and bounced up and down. “Oh my god, I’ve had a crush on him since, like, last year.”

Mina felt a lump in her throat, her voice suddenly becoming dry, “What?”

“I have a date with the Kang Daniel!” Jihyo squealed and spun around in utter joy, Mina’s lack of celebratory reciprocation going unnoticed by the giddy girl.

The school bell rang warning them that there was only five more minutes until the next class, “Oh! I have to get to class but I’ll tell you all the details later!” she enveloped the slightly taller girl in a quick hug and skipped off.

Mina stood still amidst all the clamoring students rushing to class around her; her face blank as she tried to process the information the brunette had just told her.

With the quad empty, she felt stinging trails stream down her cheeks as she pulled out her phone, flicking through her contacts. When she found the one she was looking for, she pressed call and pressed the phone to ear, her tears flowing more steadily.

“Mina!” a high voice answered.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Mina lost control of her breathing and let out a shaky sob.

“Mina? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” The girl on the phone took on a concerned tone.

“Sana unnie,” the younger girl choked out, wiping her tears with her sleeves.

“Where are you?” Sana tone was serious now. Mina never called her unnie; something must be really wrong.

Mina sniffled, “In th-the quad.”

“Okay, go to the bathroom at the far end of the school.” Sana calmly instructed. “You know which one I’m talking about?”

“Mm,”

“I’ll meet you there as fast I can,” Mina heard the older girl grunt softly as she packed up her bag, “Everything’s gonna be fine, Mina. I’ll see you soon.”

 

~

 

Sana sprinted toward the bathroom as fast as she could, the slap of her shoes against the linoleum floor echoing down the empty hallway. Her heart was pounding against her chest, not only from running the hardest she’s ever ran in years, but from the hot adrenaline coursing through her. Whoever made her Mina cry was gonna pay.

She made it to the end of the hall and pushed the door open hastily, “Mina?” she called out softly.

Sana heard sniffling and shuddering breaths from the stall the end of the row. She rushed over to find the younger girl sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up in fetal position. Mina looked up helplessly at the light haired girl as another sob shook through her.

Sana threw down her bag, wrapped her arms around her best friend and rocked her back and forth, pulling her into her lap. At this, Mina let herself go and bawled with abandon, her entire body trembling. Sana hugged the girl tight against her chest and stroked her hair; it broke her heart to see Mina this way.

After a while, Mina’s breathing calmed and the two sat in silence, aside from her soft, shaky exhales.

Sana was still hugging the younger girl, gently scratching her scalp when Mina uttered a faint “Thank you.”

“Of course. I’ll always be here for you, Minari.” Sana brought her hand up to pull Mina’s dark hair from her forehead as she pressed a comforting kiss to her hairline.

She was still itching to know who she had to wreck for making her best friend cry like that but knew that pushing Mina to tell her wasn’t the best way to do it so she waited.

A few more silent minutes passed before Mina sat up. She wiped her puffy eyes with her fingers. To be honest, she still felt like crying but then she looked over at Sana and there it was, that calming smile only her Sana unnie could give. Mina took a deep breath and rested her head on the older girl’s shoulder, “I like someone,” she spoke quietly.

Sana’s eyes widened. She almost blurted out the obvious “ _WHO?_ ” response but had just managed to refrain from doing so. And wasn’t liking someone a good thing? Why was Mina crying?

“You’re not going to ask who it is?” Mina was surprised. Sana loved these kinds of things. She always asked Mina and Momo if they had any crushes and Mina always denied it for fear the perky girl wouldn’t let her hear the end of it.

Sana blushed at Mina’s blunt question, and chuckled awkwardly, “I want to but I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” She looked down to fiddle with her fingers.

Mina looked down at Sana’s fidgeting hands. “It’s Jihyo.”

Sana’s hands froze. Mina felt her eyes mist up and the lump in her throat return.

“I saw her in the quad today. She was talking to that guy. Kang Daniel.” Mina’s voice began to break.

“ _Oh no, don’t tell me…_ ” Sana heart sank at the realization. She felt the shoulder of her shirt dampen with Mina’s renewed tears.

“He-He,” Mina heaved, “He asked her out.” Sana brought her back into her lap. Mina tried to get her breathing back under control to mutter, “And she said yes.”

And she broke down once again.

“Oh, Mina…” Sana felt her own tears well up and threaten to fall at the sight of the heartbroken girl. She buried her face in the younger girl’s hair and rocked their bodies back and forth. The two girls huddled closer together as the bell rang for them to go the next class.

 

~

 

Nayeon waved her hand around to get Jeongyeon’s attention in the crowded cafeteria. The tall girl smiled and nodded in return.

“Oh my gosh it’s Im Nayeon and Yoo Jeongyeon!”

“They’re so cool!”

“I wish I was friends with them.”

Nayeon listened to all the passing comments around her and smirked. She knew the student body liked to talked about her (and all the other popular kids in school, but she couldn’t care less about them) and she always kept an ear to the ground. She had worked hard to get to the top of the social structure of high school; joining all the cool clubs, keeping to a strict diet, and always putting on a show of things. So, it was imperative for her to know what the people were saying. No way in hell would she lose what she worked so hard for.

Squeals arose when Jeongyeon finally approached the table and set her tray down. Her popularity story was rather different from Nayeon’s.

Jeongyeon had always been somewhat popular. When they were younger, she was the softball star of primary school. Then in middle school, as if being a top notch athlete wasn’t enough, everyone began to realize just how attractive the blonde actually was. Fast forward to now, She was captain of the school softball team, class representative, and an all around girl crush (as much as Nayeon hated to admit it).

Jeongyeon slid into her seat across from Nayeon, “Yo! No Jihyo or the Condiment Duo today?”

“Nope. Busy, I guess.” Nayeon grabbed the water bottle Jeongyeon had just set down, “No girlfriend?”

“Actually, I don’t know where Sana is,” Jeongyeon scanned the cafeteria, her worried expression causing a small crease between her eyebrows. “She was supposed to meet me after class.”

Nayeon scowled, “ _She’s probably off flirting with everyone in the quad or something._ ”

The older girl wiped the catty expression off her face before anyone could notice and went on to change the subject. “What? Am I not good enough for you to have lunch with?” She teased and tried to open the water bottle, but to no avail.

Jeongyeon swiped it from her hands, twisted the cap open coolly, and offered it back.

“ _Ugh, a girl crush indeed,_ ” Nayeon internally fangirled as she took the bottle back.

Jeongyeon chuckled, “Oh, please! You need me. You’d probably die of thirst if I wasn’t here.” She winked.

The people at the tables around them were fawning over the scene:

“Oh my gosh, they would be so cute together.”

“Why aren’t they dating again?”

“I ship it!”

Both girls looked each other in the eye as they listened to the chatter.

Jeongyeon leaned in and whispered, “Wanna give them some new material?” She knew about Nayeon’s affinity for putting on a show and being the center of attention.

A spark twinkled in Nayeon’s eyes, “I thought you’d never ask.” She gripped the water bottle in her hand and took a dainty sip, letting some dribble from the corner of her mouth as she held the bottle out across the table.

Jeongyeon took it with one hand and used her other to wipe away the water from Nayeon’s chin.

The student’s surrounding them swooned. And to top it all off, Jeongyeon finished with an indirect kiss by taking a drink from the same bottle. Squeals of excitement broke out as the blonde gulped thirstily.

She giggled at the reaction they were receiving and Nayeon quietly laughed with her, but inside she was right there with the squealing girls around them. “ _INDIRECT KISS! WE JUST INDIRECTLY KISSED!_ ”

Just then, someone came rushing into the cafeteria. Sana spun around, searching the room. Jeongyeon set the bottle down and hurried over to her girlfriend.

“Look! Minatozaki Sana!”

“Oh, that’s right, she’s dating Sana.”

“Jeongyeon’s so lucky to have such a pretty girlfriend!”

Jeongyeon returned to the table with Sana following close behind. “No, I don’t but you can ask Nayeon. She might know.” The tall girl sat back down.

Nayeon’s scowl returned when she saw Sana take seat next to Jeongyeon. Like _right_ next to Jeongyeon. Okay, too close Jeongyeon. The girl was practically on her lap. Nayeon internally gagged.

“Hi, Nayeon!” Sana smiled. “Do you know where Momo is?”

The older girl sneered, “ _I do, but why should I tell you that._ ”

“No,” Nayeon lied through her teeth, “How should I know where she is?”

“Oh,” Sana’s smile fell, “You guys are always hanging out together these days, I just assumed.”

“ _Shit, why’d she assume that? Have we really been spending that much time together?_ ”

“So? I don’t have know where she is all the time,” Nayeon snapped back.

Sana flinched and slightly retreated behind her girlfriend’s arm. Jeongyeon shot a glare at the older girl. “Okay, I’ll keep looking for her then.” Sana stood up, gave Jeongyeon a quick kiss goodbye, and left the cafeteria looking a little rattled.

“What the hell was that for?” Jeongyeon barked across the table.

Nayeon picked at her lunch, acting as if she didn’t just scare off her girlfriend, “What?”

“She just asked you a question.” Jeongyeon said a little calmer but still glowering. “And she’s right. You and Momo have been hanging out a lot lately.”

Something switched on in Nayeon then, “Shut up! No one asked you!”

A brief silence took over the entirety of the cafeteria before Nayeon heard the hushed whispers around her. She looked around the room to see students’ pointing fingers and sideways glances.

Jeongyeon pounded the table abruptly and stormed out. Nayeon buried her face in her hands as the whispers grew louder and louder, ringing in her head.

 

\-----

A/N: Omg, i finished this chapter waaaay faster than i thought i would. dont expect updates to be this quick all the time LOL anyway, i learned a couple things while writing this chapter: 1) writing about mina crying breaks my heart )): she doesnt deserve what i put her through and 2) i am NOT good at writing sexy times, making out and things of the like are the extent of my explicit writing skills

also! i tried to incorporate the suggestions made regarding the male idols request from last chapter. i hope i did it justice, ill try to do better with the upcoming chapters

thanks again for reading! and i hope the story is starting pick up for you guys! stay tuneddddd ^^


	4. fine

Jeongyeon let out a yawn and huffed warm air into her hands. She looked up, taking in the soft blue-gray color of the sky. It was morning but the sun hadn’t quite risen yet.

Reaching both hands back to cradle the nape of her neck, she walked on. She had to get to school early to catch up on a couple of things; being captain of the school’s most successful sports team, class representative, maintaining near perfect grades, and keeping up with her social life didn’t come without a price. With so many things going on, she was bound to fall behind in something at some point. But she didn’t mind waking up so early. There was something about the dawn, and how most of the world seemed to still be asleep, that soothed her.

Speaking of people still being asleep, Jeongyeon turned to look at the two shuffling students behind her. She chuckled softly at the sight of them stumbling along, leaning on each other with their eyes half open.

“Tell me why we’re walking to school at 6 am today? The sun isn’t even up yet,” Dahyun whined, dragging her feet.

Chaeyoung tugged her arm to make sure she kept up their pace, “Jeongyeon has to be at school early today and our parents make us walk together every day. You already know this.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dahyun heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I’m just questioning why _I_ walk with you guys every morning.”

Chaeyoung wrapped herself around Dahyun’s arm, “Because you love me!”

Dahyun smiled. Of course she loved Chaeyoung. The short girl was her best friend, the only person in the entire world she could truly and honestly be herself around.

“And we’ve always walked together,” Chaeyoung added a matter-of-factly.

Dahyun playfully shrugged her off, “Well, if we keep having to walk to school this early, I might have to reconsider our friendship.”

“Shut up,” Chaeyoung slapped her arm and giggled, “I’m your best friend. You would never betray me, let alone _unfriend_ me.”

“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” It was Dahyun’s turn to latch on to Chaeyoung’s arm. She faced forward as they trudged on, observing the older girl in front of them, “Jeongyeon unnie seems pretty happy for it being so early in the morning though.”

“She’s a weirdo and likes to wake up early. A _morning_ person.” Chaeyoung crinkled her nose.

Dahyun laughed at Chaeyoung’s disgusted tone, “Maybe… but she’s kind of been happier than usual. I think it has something to do with-”

“Sana?” Jeongyeon’s voice startled the duo. They looked ahead to see two people waiting by the high school’s entrance waving at them.

Jeongyeon jogged up to the gate to find Sana and Mina, surprise evident on her face. Part of the reason she liked coming to school so early was because there was rarely anyone on campus to bother her before 7:30.

“Sana? Mina? What are you guys doing here?”

“Good morning to you too, Jeongyeonnie,” Sana stepped closer so they were face-to-face. She glanced down at Jeongyeon’s lips and followed the soft curves of her face up to her striking gaze. Their breaths tickled each others’ lips. Jeongyeon blinked then, slightly nodding her head to remind her that Mina was right there. Then Sana saw Chaeyoung and Dahyun come up behind her.

Sana sighed and smiled defeatedly. She was getting too ahead of herself. She greeted the two younger girls with a small wave over Jeongyeon’s shoulder before placing a quick peck on her cheek.

Jeongyeon looked down at the light haired girl empathetically, “Good morning, Sana-ya.” She placed both hands on Sana’s shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “But, seriously, it’s super early. What are you guys doing here?”

“Sana knew you were coming early today,” Mina answered, giving the blonde a quick side hug. Jeongyeon thought she looked tired; slightly blood shot eyes, faint dark circles, and her voice seemed quieter than usual, kind of empty, hollow. Jeongyeon made a note to ask Sana about it later.

“We brought you breakfast!” Sana held up a plastic bag and a paper coffee cup to hand over to the tall girl, her eyes sparkling, “Best girlfriend ever, right?”

“Yeah,” Jeongyeon chuckled and took the bag and coffee, “Best girlfriend ever.” She kissed the tip of her nose and hurried off, calling behind her, “Thank you! I gotta go but I’ll see you guys at break!”

Sana turned around looking pleased with herself.

Chaeyoung felt something bubble up in her chest. Her brow furrowed and her lips pulled into a taut line when a plastic wrapped chocolate croissant and a small milk carton appeared in front of her face.

“And, of course, I didn’t forget about Chaeyoung-chan!” Sana grinned.

“Chaeyoung-chan?” A blush crawled up the younger girl’s neck and across her cheeks.

Dahyun eyed her as the dimple on her friend’s right cheek made itself known. “S _he’s that happy about a croissant?_ ” A strange feeling overtook her and she turned to meet Mina’s gaze, a knowing glint in her eyes. Dahyun shifted in place, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Yeah! Chaeyoung-chan!” Sana giggled, “It rolls of the tongue, doesn’t it? It’s perfect cause it’s cute like you!” She placed the pastry and milk carton in Chaeyoung’s loose grip.

“Cute like me…” Chaeyoung repeated. Her face went blank as she began to blink rapidly, lost in thought.

Dahyun caught on to what was happening before Sana (and, hopefully, Mina) could notice. “What about me?” She frowned dramatically, “No breakfast for Dahyunnie?”

Her distraction was a success. Sana looked at Dahyun sulkily, “I would’ve got you something if I had known y-”

“Here, you can have mine,” Mina stepped forward holding out a small plain milk bun.

“Oh no!” Dahyun waved her hands, “It’s yours! I couldn’t take your breakfast away from you!”

A warm smile graced Mina’s face, “It’s okay. I’m not that hungry anyway.” She extended her reach further toward the dark-haired girl, “I can just share with Sana, don’t worry about it.”

Dahyun reached out tentatively, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Dahyun took the bun from Mina and looked up to see the older girl’s soft, friendly expression. The corners of Dahyun’s mouth pulled up, her eyes becoming little crescents, as her heart beat faster. “Thank you so much!”

“Aw, Mitang! You’re so nice! Of course, I’ll share with you!” Sana pounced on her best friend.

“Super nice! The nicest!” Dahyun joined in, her voice echoing down the empty street.

Chaeyoung broke out of her trance. She took note of the way Dahyun gripped the bread and how stiff her smile was; Chaeyoung knew she had to do something before the girl started to make things awkward, but when she checked the two older girls’ reactions she was surprised to see that they were looking at Dahyun fondly. “ _Maybe there’s nothing to worry about here…Probably shouldn’t risk it though._ ”

“We should probably get to school now. We have a club meeting to prepare for.” Chaeyoung bowed, a grin glued to her face. “Thank you for breakfast!”

“Anytime, Chaeyoung-chan!” Sana winked.

Chaeyoung turned bright pink. She quickly spun around to leave, grabbing Dahyun by the arm to drag her across the street.

Sana and Mina waved after the two middle school students. “That was really nice of you to give Dahyun your breakfast.” Sana talked through her smile. She waited until the two younger girls disappeared within the middle school gates to turn to Mina with a stern expression, “But you still have to eat something.”

“I’m not really hungry right now,” Mina tried to shrug the subject off.

“Mina, I’ve been with you all night and you haven’t eaten anything since like yesterday afternoon, when you told me about…” Sana’s voice trailed off when she saw Mina wince. She knew better than to finish that sentence. Everything was still too new, too fresh.

“I’m just not in the mood to eat, okay?” Mina hoped that Sana would take the hint and drop the matter.

She didn’t. The girl was awfully persistent; Mina gave her that.

Sana shoved a rice ball right up against her best friend’s lips, concern written all over her face, “Please? I know you’re going through a lot right now and all you probably want to do is go home, wrap yourself up in a blanket, and just wallow in a pit of nothingness and eat ice cream straight out of the tub. But you’re here, so will you at least let me take care of you?”

Mina looked into the older girl’s eyes. Despite the worried expression, in them she found a familiar warmth and comfort; in them she found home and how could she say no to that?

She sighed and opened her mouth to take a bite of the rice ball pressed against her lips. “Fine,” she chewed, “But admit that the part about the ice cream is what you would want be doing right now.”

Sana smiled contently, “No, I’d much rather have Minari’s famous cookies.”

“I love you,” Mina took the rice ball into her hands and rested her head on Sana’s shoulder.

“I love you too.”

They stood there a while, Mina taking small bites of rice and Sana occasionally looking over to make sure she was actually eating.

Students began to slowly make their way toward the school and soon the street was filled with uniform clad teenagers. A handful of them whispered to each other when they saw Sana and Mina standing together.

Mina’s eyes scanned the people passing by, “What time does she usually get to school?”

“I dunno, she and Nayeon have been walking together these days.” Sana craned her neck to look down street, “Wait, there she is!” She pointed to a bob-haired girl waving at them.

Mina lifted her head to greet their other best friend when all of a sudden she froze, a throbbing sensation building up in her chest. Trailing behind Momo was Nayeon and… Tears immediately welled up to the brim of Mina's eyes. Without a word, she whirled around and ran into the high school, leaving behind a puzzled Sana. The buzz around the school’s entrance grew louder and people began to point their fingers.

But Sana paid them no mind. She looked back down the street and instantly understood why Mina had run off. Jihyo was walking alongside Momo and Nayeon. The older girl was staring at her. She leaned over to say something to both of her walking companions before whispering directly into Momo’s ear.

Sana cocked her head to the side when she saw Nayeon come running ahead of the others, straight toward her. She smiled, raising her hand to greet her, “Good morning, Na-”

But Nayeon ran right past her, without so much as a glance. Gasps could be heard around them as students watched on.

       “What’s going on with those two?”

       “Does this have anything to do with what happened in the cafeteria yesterday?

“What’s up with her?” Sana questioned as Momo and Jihyo strolled up to the gate.

“Something about finishing up an assignment?” Jihyo answered seemingly just as perplexed. “What about Mina? We saw her run off.”

A flame ignited in the pit of Sana’s stomach at the sound of the shorter girl saying Mina’s name so casually. She had a sudden urge to tell her off for breaking her best friend’s heart but immediately realized that the notion to do so would be ridiculous. She wasn’t being fair; Jihyo had no idea about Mina’s feelings (hell, Sana only found out about them yesterday). But she still couldn’t help feeling at least a little enmity toward the brunette. Sana took a calming breath and tried her best to extinguish the burning in her gut.

“Her stomach was hurting so she went to the nurse’s office.”

“Oh,” Jihyo looked toward the school building with worry, “Hope she’s okay.”

“ _It’s your fault she’s not._ ” Sana fitted a smile on her face, masking her contempt.

“So, anyway, good morning! What’s up?”

Momo started bouncing up and down, “Oh my gosh, Jihyo was just telling us about how she got asked out yesterday by Dan-”

Sana’s eyes widened. She shot a sharp look at Momo and cut her off in Japanese.

It looked to be a pretty heated conversation from Jihyo’s perspective as she looked to and fro between the two girls. She could only manage to pick up a few words with her rudimentary knowledge of the Japanese language. She recognized the words for “like” and “tonight” (and, of course, Mina’s name but that was a given).

Speaking of Mina, Jihyo wished she were here now to translate what was going on. She could always count on the soft spoken girl to be on her side and knew that she would never let her feel left out.

“So you better be there,” Sana abruptly switched back to Korean and jabbed Momo’s shoulder with her finger.

The bob-haired girl just waved her off, nodding. Sana walked away with a flip of her hair.

“Wha- Bye, Sana! See you later!” Jihyo tripped over her words as she called out. Sana responded with a dismissive wave. When Jihyo turned back to Momo, she looked deep in thought, rubbing the sore spot her shoulder where Sana had poked her.

“There’s still time before we have to go to home room. Wanna go grab something to eat really quick? I’ll pay if you tell me what that was all about.”

Momo shook her head slightly and looked up to Jihyo, pausing before she spoke, “Sorry, I would but I actually have to be somewhere right now.”

Momo ran off. Jihyo waved after her, eyeing the back of her head. She tapped her chin in suspicion, “ _What could be so important that she would turn down free food?_ ”

 

~

 

“ _Meet me you-know-where._ ”

Nayeon’s words echoed in Momo’s head as she walked down the long hallway. She felt bad about leaving Jihyo at the front gate but the hint of anxiety in Nayeon’s voice when she whispered in her ear before running off led Momo to believe that this was an urgent matter.

Plus Momo just didn’t know where she stood with Jihyo at the moment. Earlier this morning, when she found out about Kang Daniel asking her out, Momo had been ecstatic for her friend. But after talking to Sana about Mina’s feelings for Jihyo and how it crushed her best friend to watch it unfold right before her very eyes, Momo wasn’t sure what to feel.

Momo was still buried in her thoughts when she finally reached the bathroom at the end of the hall. She didn’t even have a chance to gasp in surprise when Nayeon pulled her through the door and practically flung herself on her, littering sloppy kisses all over Momo’s lips and cheeks.

“Whoa, it’s still a little early isn’t it?” Momo chuckled awkwardly but the older girl ignored her and pushed her up against the tile wall harder.

“Nayeo-” Momo tried to stop her ministrations but was cut off with another sloppy kiss. “Nayeon, st-”

Nayeon moved downward to suck on her neck and Momo had to take a deep breath to get her own growing desires under control. She managed to get a grip on Nayeon’s wrists and wrangled her arms to her sides, “Nayeon, stop.”

Momo held her arms down, panting lightly. When she finally looked up at Nayeon’s face, she saw that her eyes were slightly red and puffy, “Wait, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Nayeon huffed, trying to lean forward to latch back on to Momo’s neck, but Momo had her arms pinned.

“But it looks like you were crying.”

“It’s nothing,” She tried to break free from Momo, but her grip was too strong.

“But I-”

Nayeon finally gave up, sighing. “It’s allergies,” she said unconvincingly.

Momo looked her up and down. The older girl was perfectly fine on their walk to school. What could have brought on this sudden change of character? Momo decided to let it slide, no wanting to pry too far.

She finally let go of Nayeon and stepped back, giving her some space, “Hey, so I can’t meet up after school today. Something came up.”

Nayeon massaged her wrists, “Why? What are you doing?”

“I have to do something with Mina and Sana.”

Nayeon’s head jerked up at the mention of Sana’s name, “ _Of course it’s her._ ” She narrowed her eyes at Momo, “ _She takes everything away from me._ ”

“Okay?” Momo tilted her head, confused.

“ _What made me think you would be an exception?_ ”

“Nayeon?”

“Fine.” Nayeon straightened out her uniform, “I know someone else I can hang out with after school.” She turned to the mirror, touching up the small smudges of make-up on her face.

Momo watched her, bewildered, “ _Another mood swing?_ ”

“Okay...I’ll make it up to you and we can hang out tomorrow?” Momo looked at Nayeon through the mirror.

Nayeon whipped around and walked straight to the door, not bothering to look at Momo as she left. “Whatever.”

As soon as the door shut behind her, Nayeon speed-walked down the corridor, fighting back a new batch of tears, “ _Idiot…What the hell is the matter with m_ e.”

Murmurs trailed behind her as she made her way to her homeroom class.

 

~

 

Mina glanced down at her watch. “ _16:43, they should be done soon._ ”

She turned her attention to the middle school students across the street, watching them leave the school in small groups.

It had been on an autumn day like this and they had been walking home in a huddle like that when Mina realized her feelings for Jihyo. She remembered it so clearly. She remembered the way the soft sunlight filtered through the barren trees, creating a glowing halo around the brunette’s head as she turned to smile at her. Mina remembers how breathtaking she looked and how her heart had fluttered.

Warmth gathered behind her eyes. She sighed trying to blink away her threatening tears, when her eyes landed on a familiar face walking through the school gates. It was perfect timing and just what she needed: a distraction from the aching emptiness within her.

She took a calming breath and fit a friendly smile on her face as she waved to get the middle school student’s attention. But she just kept walking, eyes focused on the ground.

“Dahyun!” Mina called out. The girl across the street paused briefly, shook her head, and kept on walking. “Kim Dahyun!” Mina shouted again.

Dahyun stopped and looked around. Okay, she wasn’t imagining things. Someone was definitely calling her. She saw Mina waving at her from the high school and a rush of excitement filled her. She beamed at the older girl and skipped across the street. As she got closer, Dahyun became aware of how eager she must have looked and slowed down her pace to that of a brisk walk.

Dahyun has always been on the more boisterous side. When she was younger, she was the loudest kid on the playground, talking to anyone and everyone about anything and everything, and then randomly breaking out into dance. Most kids avoided her and her rather odd nature, saying that she came on too strong, a certified spazz attack.

So, Dahyun learned to dial herself back; to tone her personality down in order to make friends. And it worked! She was able to start talking to some girls about some male idol group and managed to earn herself a spot at their table during lunch time. But the more time she spent with them, the unhappier she felt herself become. It wasn’t because her new so-called "freinds" were mean or anything, it just didn’t feel right for Dahyun to tone her "real" self down whenever they gave her looks for being a little rowdy. And then came along Chaeyoung.

Now, Chaeyoung, Dahyun quickly found out, was actually quite the opposite of her: composed, methodical, and modest. But they liked the same things and Chaeyoung didn’t seem to mind Dahyun’s weird quirks (she really rather enjoyed the girl's random outbursts of energy). They were fast friends. Dahyun’s favorite thing about Chaeyoung was her ability to not care what other people thought, a trait in which Dahyun wished she possessed now as she approached the high school.

“Hi, Mina,” she greeted in a composed manner, “Thanks again for breakfast this morning. That was super nice of you.” Dahyun bowed deeply.

Mina giggled softly at the dark haired girl’s seemingly uncharacteristic formality and patted her on the shoulder, “No problem, I’ll make sure we get you something next time! Were you heading home?”

“Yeah,” Dahyun’s smile grew wider as she dwelled on Mina’s promise of a next time.

Mina looked over at all the other students walking down the street with their friends, “Alone?”

Dahyun blushed furiously, tripping over her words, “Uh, w-well, Chaeng – Chaengie, I mean Chaeyoung usually walks with me but she's in an art club meeting that’s running longer than expected so she’s still there and I was going to wait for her but it’s getting kinda late and I would’ve walked with other people but…”

“Whoa, hey, slow down,” Mina raised her hand, halting Dahyun’s ramble, “You don’t need to explain. I just wanted to ask if you wanted some company.”

Dahyun didn’t know what to say. The only people she’s ever walked home with were Chaeyoung and, occasionally, Jeongyeon. The thought of walking home with someone else was exciting. She didn’t know if she could contain the “real” Kim Dahyun.

“Dahyun?” Mina’s voice called her back to reality.

“Yes, oh my gosh, that would be the best thing ever.” The words spilled out of Dahyun’s mouth before she could think. She coughed, trying to play off the obvious display of excitement, “I mean, yeah sure, if you want.”

Mina laughed and patted the younger girl’s shoulder again. “Okay, I’m just waiting for Momo and Sana.”

“Momo and Sana are coming too?” Dahyun perked up even more. She wasn’t just going to walk home with one new person but three? (Not to mention they were all super pretty to boot). Now she really had to keep herself in check; she didn’t want to mess this up.

“Yeah, it’s a pity Chaeyoung couldn’t join us.” Mina mumbled just loud enough for Dahyun to hear.

“Wha-”

Just then a voice called out from behind them, “Mitang!” Dahyun and Mina turned around to be greeted by Momo looking pleasantly surprised at the dark-haired girl’s presence, “Hi, Dahyun!”

“HI!” Dahyun practically squawked, earning a few side glances from nearby students.

Momo smiled in return then turned to Mina to say a quick quip in Japanese. Mina’s smiled faltered but quickly returned whenshe remembered that the middle schooler was still there. She responded back in her mother tongue, seemingly ending the conversation.

Dahyun just stood in awe of the two girls’ exchange, “You guys are awesome at Japanese.”

Mina chuckled, “I mean we are from Japan.”

“ _Stupid, they’re Japanese. Of course, they’re good at speaking their native language._ ” Dahyun mentally hit herself. She wasn’t off to a good start.

“Dahyun? Why are you hitting yourself?” Mina’s question was laced with worry.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so mental. “Oh, uh, I knew you guys were from Japan, so of course you’d be good at speaking Japanese.”

Momo removed Dahyun’s hand from her head and replaced it with her own, ruffling her dark hair, “Dahyun-chan, kawaii.” She giggled.

Dahyun blushed. Maybe she didn’t need to hide herself as much with them (if that didn't scare them away).

“Oh, right! Momoring, I offered to walk Dahyun home. She said Chaeyoung was stuck in a club meeting so she was walking alone today." Mina turned to Momo, "Is that cool with you?”

“Of course! If that’s what you want to do,” The older girl raised a concerned brow at Mina, who gave a sad smile and nodded slightly.

Momo turned back to Dahyun, “We can’t let a cute girl like this walk home alone, it’d be crime.” The bob-haired girl hooked her arm around Dahyun’s neck, “And I’m sure Sana would be more than happy.”

“Speak of the devil,” Mina waved to a couple in the distance. The shorter of the two waved back before kissing the other goodbye and running towards them.

Dahyun felt Momo’s arm tighten around her neck then slowly loosen as Sana approached.

“Hey, guys! Were you waiting long? Sorry, I was waiting for Jeongyeonnie to get a break during practice so I could say goodbye. Oh, hi Dahyunnie!” Sana jogged up, slightly out of breath. Her face lit up when she saw the middle school student.

Momo withdrew her arm from around Dahyun and stepped toward Sana, speaking in Japanese once again. Sana listened intently, her bright smile shrinking to a small curve of her lip. Her response was high and melodic. Momo nodded and shifted her focus to Mina, as if inspecting her features. Mina took the cue to join the discussion and soon the three high schoolers were engrossed in their own conversation.

Dahyun watched on in wonderment again. She had no idea what they were talking about but she decided that she quite enjoyed listening to the three girls speak their native tongue. Dahyun sighed in appreciation of the euphonic sound of the foreign dialogue, catching the attention of its speakers.

“Oh my gosh! Dahyun! Sorry!” Momo's eyes grew round as she realized that they had totally just left the younger girl out. She rushed over and rested her hand on her shoulder in apology.

“It’s okay,” Dahyun piped up, “I like listening to you guys talk in Japanese. It’s cool! The only Japanese words I know are ' _cute_ ' or ' _hello_ ' or ' _water_ ' or ' _delicious_.'”

Mina laughed warmly, “We can teach you some more if you want.”

“Yeah!” Sana stepped closer toward Dahyun, “Like ‘ _the moon is beautiful tonight isn’t it, Dahyun-chan?_ ’”

“What does that mean?” Dahyun turned to ask Sana, not realizing how close her face actually was. Dahyun paused, shocked at the close proximity, and felt her heart rate quicken.

Momo gagged, breaking the tension. Sana withdrew and slapped her best friend’s shoulder. Mina patted Dahyun on the back as she watched the other two continue with their usual antics.

“Hey, it’s getting late! We have to take Dahyun-chan home!” Mina playfully scolded the two older girls.

Sana stopped bopping Momo on the head. “We’re taking Dahyun home?”

“Is that okay?” Dahyun looked at her sheepishly.

“Of course, it’s okay! I would love to walk you home! We can make up for not bringing you breakfast this morning!” Sana bounced over and enveloped the shorter girl in a bear hug. Dahyun felt a rush of heat in her ears. She wasn’t used to such outward affection.

The four of them began walking down the street; Momo and Sana on either side of Dahyun, arguing about why Sana and Mina didn’t think to get Momo anything to eat this morning, and Mina giggling beside them.

Dahyun felt oddly relaxed; odd because usually she would be stressing out about how to suppress her eccentricity. Honestly, she just felt so happy to be walking home with a new group of friends. She almost didn’t notice the way her fellow classmates stared and whispered as they passed by. But she didn’t care; right now she just wanted enjoy herself, her true self.

 

~

 

“Hey Chaeng, ready to go?” Jeongyeon smiled as her cousin skipped out the middle school gate to meet her.

“Yup!” A toothy grin spread across the short girl’s lips.

“You’re sure you have everything?” Jeongyeon’s voice took on a more authoritative tone.

Chaeyoung slipped her backpack off her shoulders, going through the pockets, “Yeah, I think so.” She looked back up at the blonde.

“Aish, come here. You still have paint on you,” Jeongyeon licked the pad of her thumb and wiped a spot of blue off Chaeyoung’s temple. She held her at arm’s length and gave her a quick up-down to make sure no more paint was to be found. A couple of high school and middle school students stopped to stare at them, whispering to each other.

Chaeyoung’s eyes darted around, self-conscious, “Stop, people are staring.”

“Aw, is my little baby cousin embarrassed?” Jeongyeon pinched her cheek.

Chaeyoung pouted, shaking the taller girl off. “Stoooop,” she whined.

Jeongyeon cackled as they started walking home under the pink sky. “So, Sana told me they got you breakfast this morning too.”

The mention of Sana’s name caught Chaeyoung off guard. Her eyes widened and her heart began to pump harder in her chest. “U-uh, yeah, they did,” she said carefully.

“Isn’t she the best?” Jeongyeon beamed. “I mean, I wouldn’t say that to her face, she probably wouldn’t shut up about it if I did, but really is.”

Chaeyoung knew that smile. That smile meant her cousin was on top of the world. She recalled what Dahyun had said earlier that morning and she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about her developing feelings.

Chaeyoung laughed nervously, “Yeah, she is.”

“Mina too! She’s so nice! She just takes a little warming up to but she’s really sweet and makes the most awesome cookies,” the tall girl added.

“Yeah, super awesome,” the younger girl replied distractedly.

Upon hearing Chaeyoung’s preoccupied response, Jeongyeon eyed the girl. “ _Do_ _I_ _sense a little crush going on here?_ ”

“So you like them?” Jeongyeon smiled slyly, determined to find out.

Chaeyoung nearly jumped, “What? Like who? I don’t like anybody!”

Jeongyeon laughed at the panicked girl’s reaction, mentally confirming her suspicions. “Do you like Momo, Sana, and Mina,” the blonde paused to wink, “As new friends?”

“Oh,” Chaeyoung brought her hand up to her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart, “Yeah, they’re cool.”

Jeongyeon ruffled her cousin’s hair, chortling. Chaeyoung shot her a glare, but didn’t move away and was soon giggling along with her.

When Chaeyoung opened her eyes, she saw Nayeon a little further up the street walking with someone she didn’t recognize. “Hey, isn’t that Nayeon unnie?”

Jeongyeon looked up to where Chaeyoung was staring and saw the older girl arm-in-arm with what looked to be another girl from their school. “Yeah, it is. But who is…”

Jeongyeon squinted, trying to figure out who the mystery girl was, when she finally turned her head to speak to Nayeon. Jeongyeon’s eyes widened. She immediately recognized the girl as one of Nayeon’s more extreme fangirls, Jennie.

Just then, Nayeon peered down the street and locked eyes with Jeongyeon, looking like a deer in headlights. She quickly diverted her eyes, smiling at Jennie and whispering something in her ear. An ecstatic smile broke out on Jennie’s face and the two ran off around the corner.

“Jeongyeon?” Chaeyoung poked the blonde’s cheek, “Who was that?”

Jeongyeon shook the stunned expression off her face. Jennie had always been a little too fanatic when it came to Nayeon. She was always trying to figure out ways to squeeze herself into their friend group and sticking her nose in Nayeon’s business. Nayeon had told Jeongyeon that, although she loved being the center of attention, she hated the way the girl tried to just insert herself into her life. _So what the hell was going on?_

“Just another girl from school,” Jeongyeon answered, “She must be from one of Nayeon’s classes”

Chaeyoung didn’t buy the taller girl’s explanation but decided to stay quiet. She knew that Jeongyeon must of had her reasons to keep things from her (after all, Chaeyoung defintiely had reasons to keep things from her cousin), so they continued to walk home in silence.

 

~

 

It dawned on Momo that it had been a while since she’s slept over at her best friend’s house. After they walked Dahyun home, the three of them headed straight to Sana’s. Everything was exactly the same but, for some reason, being there felt somewhat different. Momo couldn't help but feel like something was slowly (but surely) wedging itself between her and Sana; the bob-haired girl just couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

“ _Probably the fact that I’m in love with your girlfriend._ ” Momo put set the picture of Jeongyeon and Sana back down on the bedside table and plopped down next to Mina on the other bed in the room.

(Sana was an only child, but Momo and Mina had slept over so much when they were younger that Sana’s parents decided to just put an extra bed in her room.)

They sat in silence for a while, Mina seemingly lost in her thoughts as she hugged her pillow tight to her chest. Momo listened carefully, trying to make out how far Sana was into her bed time routine, _“Brushing her teeth gives me at least 10 more minutes.”_

“Hey, Mina?” Momo said in a low voice, “Have you noticed anything different about Nayeon lately?”

Pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of her name, Mina blinked rapidly. “Uh, no, I don’t think so…” she answered distractedly.

A heavy pause pressed down on them when Momo called out again, “Hey, Mina?”

The younger looked up.

“Are you okay?”

Momo immediately regretted the question. Tears quickly formed in Mina’s eyes and she buried her face in her pillow.

“ _Dammit, stupid, wrong question._ ” Momo rushed over to Mina’s side, gently patting her shoulder. Mina leaned into her lap.

“Sana? Sana!” Momo whisper-shouted.

Sana poked her head out of the bathroom, a gelatinous sheen covering her face. Her eyes landed on Mina curled up in Momo’s lap. “What did you do?” She mouthed exaggeratedly.

Momo hit herself on her head with her knuckles. Sana glowered at her and whipped around back into the bathroom. Momo heard the sound of the faucet running then being quickly turned off. Sana reemerged from the bathroom with a clean face and a glass of water in hand.

She sat on the edge of the bed, on the other side of Mina, stroking her head as Momo moved her hand to rub her back. “Shhh, Minari, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine; Momoring and I are here.”

Soon, Mina regained control over her breathing and lifted her head to peek up at Momo. The older girl offered an comforting smile. Mina felt Sana’s hand on her side, helping her to sit up and handed her the glass of water.

Momo scooted closer to the now upright Mina. “Drink first and then you can start from the beginning.”

The beginning. Mina could do that. She liked the beginning. She sipped the water and swallowed it with a sigh, “Middle school. It was in middle school.”

Momo and Sana exchanged glances from either side of the younger girl, “ _Middle school?_ ”

“We were walking home with everyone on a day like this.” Mina’s gaze was downcast and a small smile slipped on to her lips as she remembered that day. “The air was crisp and the leaves on the ground were a mix of red and orange and yellow. And they crunched under our feet with every step. The sun was starting to set and everything was bathed in the golden light.”

Momo and Sana looked at her with sad eyes, bracing themselves for what was coming next.

“And then I looked at her and she was beautiful and shining and I just sort of knew,” Mina focused on a spot on the floor, her eyes misting up, “I-I knew I was in love with her. With-with,” Mina choked on her words.

Sana felt her heart wrench and recalled the scene from the bathroom. She reached out to hold Mina’s hand.

Mina looked up at Sana and took a deep breath, “With Jihyo,” she exhaled, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

Momo grasped Mina’s other hand that was holding the glass and guided it up to her lips. She tucked Mina's hair behind her ear and pet her head soothingly. Mina turned to give a silent thanks.

Mina took small sips, concentrating on the feeling of the water as she gulped. When she lowered the cup, her mouth still felt dry, the lump in her throat was still there, and more tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped the residue off her upper lip with her sleeve and continued.

“Then, yesterday, I was walking across the quad to my next class when I saw her talking to him - Kang Daniel. They were flirting. I should’ve known they were flirting.” Mina fiddled with the cup in her hands. “He walked away and she did this little happy dance. It was so cute.” She smiled despite her threatening tears, but it suddenly fell as she finished her thought, “Then she came over to tell me that he had as-asked her o-out.

“And now it hurts. It just hurts. And I don’t know what to do. I feel so stupid for even thinking she could like me back.” Mina tightened her fingers around the cup until her knuckles were taut and white, letting her tears fall freely. “I should’ve known she liked boys. If I wasn't so wrapped up in my own dumb feelings, I probably would have known. It’s my own stupid fault for letting myself get carried away.”

Sana wrapped her arms around the younger girl and pulled her in, holding her tight. Momo peeled the glass from Mina’s grasp before joining Sana in her attempt to console their best friend.

The two girls looked at each other helplessly as Mina cried into Sana’s chest. Quite frankly, they didn’t know what to do either. Neither of them had ever seen Mina so devastated.

Sana began to rock their little huddle back and forth, “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. You are not stupid.”

“Yeah,” Momo smoothed Mina’s hair down, “You’re the smartest, most caring person we know, so don’t blame yourself for anything. Especially for the way you feel.”

The three of them sat there in Sana’s room, quiet, gently rocking back and forth. Before long, Momo and Sana heard Mina’s breaths become long and even. Sana carefully lay her down on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

“What are we going to do?” Momo whispered, looking down at the sleeping girl concernedly.

“I don’t know! You should have seen her in the bathroom yesterday.” Sana threw her hands up in distress. “I didn't have the heart leave her alone so I let her spend the night yesterday too. It breaks my heart seeing her like this.”

“Yeah, I mean, I can’t imagine what it's like to find out that you don’t even have a chance with the person you like.” Momo felt something bubble in her stomach and glanced back over at the picture on the bedside table.

" _Wa_ _it, yes, I do_."

Sana’s sniffling reclaimed the bob-haired girl’s attention. “She’s broken, Momoring. Our penguin maknae is broken and we don’t know how to fix her.” Sana began to tear up as she reached down to stroke Mina’s head softly. “What kind of best friends are we?”

Momo hit the light-haired girl on shoulder. Sana jerked her head up to glare at her but found tears in Momo’s eyes. “The kind that will be here for her when she wakes up and the kind that will always be there for each other whenever we need to be.” Momo smiled sadly.

Sana reciprocated the expression and settled into the bed beside Mina. Momo followed suit, curling up to the younger girl’s side. Sana reached over the sleeping form to rest her hand on Momo’s arm, “I love you, Momoring.”

The tears in Momo’s eyes spilled over as she peeked back at the picture of Sana and Jeongyeon again, “Yeah, me too.”

 

\-----

A/N: OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. i jus got so busy with work and life and stuff...anyway, this was a long chapter. (i think im gonna try to shorten them a little. why am i typing this... you probably dont care lol)

i know there wasn't a lot of scenes with jihyo this time around but we will see more of her in the future, i promise! as for the tzuyu stans out there, my original plan was to introduce her later in the story but i feel like a lot of people are curious as to when shes going to show up so i wanted to ask if you guys wanted me to bring her in sooner. lemme know!

thanks again for reading!!  it means so much to me!! my ongoing writing skills are really bad and i know that there are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more talented writers out there but it makes me so so happy to see people reading my stuff (:


	5. progress

Mina awoke with a start. When she opened her eyes, it took her a second to register where she was. She couldn’t move and she felt incredibly warm. She tried to wiggle free of whatever was restraining her, but when she tried to bring her arm up and out from the covers the pressure surrounding her wrapped tighter around her body and a soft whine broke the morning silence.

Mina rolled her head to the right and was greeted by Sana’s sharp nose just inches away from hers. She turned over to find exactly what she expected: a muss of short black hair softly snoring (which she deducted to be Momo, of course).

A deep feeling of comfort and warmth overtook her being. What in the world had she done in her previous life to deserve such kind and thoughtful best friends as these? She smiled and craned her neck up to kiss the crown of Momo’s head, earning a groan from the sleepy girl. She rolled back over to press her forehead to Sana’s.

The light-haired girl sleepily blinked her eyes open to see Mina’s gentle smile. A grin of her own spread across her face to see her friend in much better spirits this morning. Sana cuddled closer and poked Mina’s side, tickling her, “Good morning, Minari.”

Mina jerked away from the older girl’s hands, accidentally bumping Momo’s still sleeping form. The bob-haired girl yelped.

“Sorry, Momoring!” Mina sat up and looked down to check the damage she’d caused.

Momo didn’t answer, her hair still covering her face as she let the silence drag on. Mina looked to Sana, scared. Suddenly, Momo popped up and pounced on Mina. “You’re going to pay for that, Mitang!”

Momo’s hands went to the younger girl’s sides, tickling her. Sana joined in, jamming her fingers into Mina’s neck. Mina’s laugh echoed off the walls, filling the room with a light, tinkling melody.

“That sound is music to my ears,” Momo encircled her arms around Mina and wrapped her in a tight bear hug, nuzzling her cheek into her dark hair.

Sana quickly joined in, “We’ll always be here for you, Mina. Remember that. We will always have each other’s backs.”

If she was being honest, Mina still felt like there was a gaping hole in her chest where her heart was supposed to be, but knowing that she had the best support system in the world right here by her side reassured her that she could make it through whatever the world threw at her. That included absolute heartbreak.

As the three girls broke out of the embrace, Mina noticed the way Momo’s gaze lingered on the picture on Sana’s bedside table in the corner of her eye. Call her crazy but she couldn’t help but relate the look in the older girl’s eyes to the feelings in her heart. But soon enough Sana’s voice brought them both back to reality.

“Alrighty then, I guess since we’re up, we should start getting ready.” Sana looked at the time on her phone, “6:23am, wow, good thing you woke us up, Mina.” Sana hopped out of bed and went to her closet to take out her uniform. “Well, come on! Don’t you guys want to get breakfast?”

“Oh! We need to get something for Dahyun-chan this time. I promised her.” Mina slid out from under the covers and headed toward the bathroom to start her morning routine.

“Oh yeah, don’t forget about Dahyun-chan,” Momo folded her arms and fitted a pout on her face, “Hmph.”

No response.

“Hmph!” She grunted louder. Sana ignored her and continued to change into her uniform. Mina came out from the bathroom all ready to go. Momo felt her ears burn up, frustrated at the lack of attention she was receiving.

“Hm-hmph!” She mumbled a third time, rustling the blankets around with her legs to create more noise.

Sana sighed and finally looked over, “What is it, Momo? Why aren’t you getting ready?”

Momo only glared back and huffed. Sana raised her eyebrows, inquiring what her tantrum was all about.

Momo felt the mattress dip and a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get you something too, to make up for forgetting yesterday.”

Momo whipped around to look Mina in the eye, “Really?”

The younger girl nodded and smiled sweetly.

“Oh my god, all that just because you’re little salty about not getting a piece of bread?” Sana walked over and threw Momo’s uniform on her lap, “Hurry up and change so we can go get your precious pastry.”

“You know what? You don’t have to get me the bread, Minari. I want Sana to buy it for me instead.” Momo met Sana’s gaze and stuck out her tongue.

“What? No way! Why should I?” Sana refused. Momo shrugged and laid back down.

Mina clicked her tongue and tried to tug the covers back off the older girl, “Come on, I’ll just get you something, Momoring.”

“No. I want Sana to get it or I’m not getting up.”

Mina looked to Sana. Sana shook her head vehemently. Mina tapped the watch on her wrist and the light-haired girl sighed, rolling her eyes as she gave in, “Ughhh, fine, but you’re only getting one.”

“Five.” Momo rolled over to negotiate.

“Two.” Sana narrowed her eyes.

“Four.” Momo sat up.

Sana folded her arms across her chest with a smug look on her face, “Three or nothing.”

“Deal!” Momo jumped out of bed and skipped to the bathroom, beaming.

“Did I just…get played by Hirai Momo?” Sana looked incredulously at Mina who just stared back with the same disbelief in her eyes.

“What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go get some breakfast!” The bob-haired girl stood in the doorway all dressed, washed up, and ready to go, a glint in her eye as she smiled and looked back at them.

 

~

 

Chaeyoung’s brow crinkled up as she made her way down the hall. Dahyun was usually lurking right outside of her classroom when class let out for morning break but today she was no where to be found. In fact, she didn’t even walk to school with her and Jeongyeon this morning.

As Chaeyoung continued into the cafeteria, she saw a small group gathering at the corner of the room where she and Dahyun usually sat.

“Ugh, I guess I gotta find somewhere else to sit. Hopefully, she can find me.”

But before she turned away to find another spot, Chaeyoung caught a glimpse of the dark-haired girl at their table in the center of the group of students.

“What the hell?” Chaeyoung squeezed her way to the front of the crowd to get a closer look.

“Who were they?” A boy called out from somewhere behind her.

“Just a couple of my friends from the high school across the street.” Dahyun flipped her hair as she spoke. “They’re Japanese.”

“How do you know them?” This time the girl just to Chaeyoung’s left spoke up.

Dahyun’s eyes were tracking the source of the question when they landed on her best friend’s face.

“Chaeyoung-ah!” She blurted out. Dahyun’s eyes widened and her face flushed a pale pink in embarrassment for being caught in such a surprising predicament. Chaeyoung looked at her in complete confusion when the determined look suddenly returned to Dahyun’s features.

She pulled the short girl into the center of the group. “They’re friends of Chaeyoung’s cousin,” she announced.

“Hey! I know you! I saw you hanging out with Yoo Jeongyeon yesterday!”

“Oh my god, the softball superstar?”

“Is there any other Yoo Jeongyeon?”

“Yeah, she’s my cousin.” Chaeyoung said distractedly, still perplexed as to what was going on. She looked at Dahyun who was just grinning at the crowd.

Chaeyoung leaned in closer to whisper in the older girl’s ear, “What is happening?”

“I don’t know! People have just been following me around since this morning. I think they saw me walking home with Mina unnie, Momo unnie, and Sana unnie yesterday.” Dahyun whispered back, keeping up her smile.

“Sana?!” Chaeyoung’s sudden outburst startled the group around them. The short girl felt her ears heat up.

“O-kay, um, how about I tell you guys more later. Chaengie and I are just going to enjoy the rest of morning break.” Dahyun awkwardly waved her arms around, shooing people away.

Chaeyoung watched as the crowd dispersed when she caught the gaze of a tall girl with long, flowing hair and a pretty face. They stared at each other for a moment (or maybe it was a few long ones) before Chaeyoung felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked over to see Dahyun rummaging through her bag. When she looked up again, the girl was gone but before Chaeyoung could give it a second thought Dahyun’s voice regained her attention.

“Chaeyoung-ah! Here! This is from Sana unnie herself.” The dark-haired girl held out a strawberry tart. She watched as her best friend’s eyes lit up in absolute delight as she graciously accepted the pastry.

“So, what happened yesterday?” Chaeyoung asked as she opened her treat.

Dahyun took a seat at the table and motioned for Chaeyoung to do the same. “Mina unnie, Momo unnie, and Sana unnie walked me home.”

“Wait, wait,” Chaeyoung sat down and looked her in the eye questioningly, “Since when did you start calling them ‘unnie?’”

Dahyun shrugged, “I feel comfortable around them, I guess.”

Chaeyoung’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Comfortable? With three people she barely knows? Especially someone as pretty as-”

“But, Chaeng, they’re so cool! Especially when they talk in Japanese!” Dahyun fangirled, “I want to hang out with them again soon! Oh my gosh, wait. Do you want to walk home with them today? They gave me their numbers so I can ask Sana unnie or Mi-”

“YES!” Dahyun looked up to find Chaeyoung looking her straight in the eye, crumbs and traces of whipped cream decorating the corners of her mouth. “I-I mean, sure, why not. Go ahead and text her-THEM. Go ahead and text THEM.”

Dahyun eyed her seemingly flustered best friend and pulled out her phone. Her fingers danced quickly across the screen then showed the phone to Chaeyoung. “Sent!”

She felt the phone vibrate almost immediately and retracted the device from Chaeyoung’s face.

{Sana unnie, 9:42am}:

Yessssss! I would love to walk you two home <33 I’ll ask Mina and Momo if they wanna come too.

She turned the phone back to Chaeyoung before she could notice the typing speech bubble at the bottom of the screen pop back up. She felt the phone vibrate once more and heard a squeal escape the younger girl’s mouth.

{Sana unnie, 9:42am}:

I can get to know Chaeyoung-chan better! Maybe even make Jeongyeonnie jealous ;) See you after school! ;33

Dahyun looked up from her screen to see a very pink Chaeyoung.

 

~

 

“So, where are you guys going?”

“I don’t know! He just told me to meet him at Anguk Station at 1:00pm this Saturday!”

Nayeon and Jihyo giggled as they navigated through the school hallways, arm-in-arm. A few people watched at them as they passed.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Nayeon to run into a couple gawking students every now and then (on account of her position in the school’s social hierarchy, of course), but ever since yesterday, she had been hearing more and more whispers going around about “the girl Kang Daniel asked out.” She glanced over at her friend and noting how oblivious she was to the ogling eyes on her. Nayeon couldn’t blame them. Jihyo was absolutely gorgeous; one would have to be blind not to see that and, ever since Daniel asked her out a couple days ago, people have been paying even more attention to her.

Nayeon decided not to pay it any mind. Jihyo deserved all the attention she’s been receiving. She was happy for her best friend and that was all that mattered.

“What are you guys going to do?” Nayeon clutched at the shorter girl’s arm eagerly.

Jihyo tittered, “How am I supposed to know what we’re going to do if I don’t even know where we’re going?”

The older girl tapped her chin with her index finger, “Well, if you’re meeting at Anguk station, what kind of things come to mind?”

“I mean, it is my first date ever,” Jihyo looked down and fiddled with her fingers, “I really have no idea what to expect.”

“Your first date! Jihyo, oh my god! I’m so excited for you! I’m coming over this weekend to help you get ready.” Nayeon beamed and pulled away to look at the brunette. The younger girl was blushing.

“I was going to ask for your help but I wasn’t sure if you would want to…” Jihyo’s shoulders rose to her ears and her head shrunk into her neck, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“You’re so cute! I’ve never seen you so flustered and shy before, Jihyo-ah.” Nayeon pinched her cheeks before pulling her in for a hug, “Of course I want to help! What else are friends for?”

Jihyo relaxed into the embrace, “You’re right. Friends always help friends. I don’t know why I was so nervous about it. I haven’t seen her around lately but I actually wanted to ask- MINA!” The younger girl’s loud voice made Nayeon wince. Jihyo smiled brightly and shot her hand into the air, waving it around frantically.

The older girl turned around to peer down the hallway only to lock eyes with the one person she was trying to avoid today. Unable to hold the girl’s earnest gaze, Nayeon quickly diverted her eyes to the ground. An uncomfortable, sour feeling bubbled up in her stomach seeing Momo. She only hoped the girl didn’t know about who she ended up hanging out with yesterday.

Jihyo’s smile faded as she held Mina’s empty stare. “Something’s wrong…Why does it look like she’s in pain? Does her stomach still hurt from yesterday? Maybe I should get her some medicine or something…”

The brunette continued to watch as the Mina and Momo exchanged a quick quip before Mina abruptly turned to leave. Jihyo’s brow furrowed in concern, “I hope you feel better soon, Minari.”

Momo looked back at her then over to Nayeon, something of hope glinting in her eyes. Jihyo checked to see if the other girl had noticed but Nayeon looked entirely disinterested. By the time Jihyo looked back down the hall, Momo was already gone.

++ meanwhile ++

“Are you sure you don’t want Sana and I to come over tonight?” Momo strode beside Mina, giving her a quick up-down as she tried to gauge how she was doing.

The younger girl side-eyed her best friend playfully, “Yeah, I’m sure. I’m okay for now and you guys probably have homework and other stuff to catch up on.”

“Oh crap, I forgot about homework.” Momo facepalmed. “Maybe I’ll just come over anyway so you can help me.”

The two broke into laughter as they rounded the corner. All of a sudden, Mina stopped in her tracks. Momo nearly tripped trying to avoid bumping into her.

“Hmphf, Minari! What are you-” Momo stopped her scolding when she saw the way Mina was staring down the hallway. She followed her line of sight to see Jihyo and Nayeon. Her eyes met Nayeon’s before the older girl quickly looked away. Why did she do that?

Something sparked in Momo; she got the sudden urge to charge down the corridor, straight up to Nayeon, and confront about what really happened in the bathroom yesterday. But then her eyes landed on Jihyo.

“Mina?” Momo looked over her best friend, worried. Mina stared blankly down the hall. “Mina, She’s waving us over.”

“I don’t want to go over there.” Mina bluntly stated, holding Jihyo’s gaze.

Momo reached out to softly grasp Mina’s shoulder, “You can’t avoid her forever, Minari.”

“I can try.” And, without a batting an eye, Mina turned curtly to leave down the hallway.

The bob-haired girl looked back at Jihyo then over to Nayeon, hoping to at least communicate something to her through her eyes but the latter paid her no mind. Momo heaved a sigh and followed after Mina.

 

~

 

Jeongyeon picked at her lunch as she looked around the crowded cafeteria. A few tables down, girls waved shyly when she looked in their direction. The blonde smiled kindly and waved back before returning her attention to her food. She sighed, looked up at the empty spot in front of her, and checked her phone.

“12:15pm. Lunch started ten minutes ago. She should be here by now.”

Just then, someone came rushing into the cafeteria. Jeongyeon’s heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was. Sana stopped in the dead center of the room, scanning over all the students. When she spotted her girlfriend, a smiled immediately appeared on her face as she skipped over.

“Jeongyeon-ah! Sorry I’m late!” Sana took the seat in front of the tall girl.

Jeongyeon focused on her food, trying her best to look impartial, “I didn’t even notice.”

The light-haired girl looked at the plate to find the food barely touched and smirked, “So, you weren’t worried about me?”

“Why would I be worried?”

“Because I tripped.” Sana said casually.

Jeongyeon’s head jerked up to look at her girlfriend, concern evident in her eyes.

“I’m okay,” Sana chuckled, relishing in the girl’s reaction to her well-being. “Mina helped me get patched up by her locker.”

Jeongyeon’s eyes softened in relief.

Sana caught the slight change in her expression and called her out on her bluff, “You were worried about me!”

“No, I wasn’t!” Jeongyeon quickly looked back down to her plate.

“Yes, you were! Look how red you’re getting!” Sana giggled and pointed at the blonde’s ears.

Jeongyeon shied away from her reach, ignoring the warmth gathering in her ears. “Hey, speaking of Mina, how is she? Is there anything going on with her?”

“She’s fine,” Sana opened up her lunch, “I don’t think anything is going on, why?”

Jeongyeon watched her fixedly. She and Sana had been dating for a while now but she still had no idea how to tell when the girl was lying or not. There was no doubt in Jeongyeon’s mind that something was up with Mina; it was clear in the way that she looked yesterday. If anyone were to know what was going on with her, it would be her best friend, Sana. Jeongyeon continued to stare.

“You’re staring, Jeongyeonnie.” Sana grinned.

“Are you sure nothing’s going on? She looked a little off to me yesterday morning, like she didn’t get any sleep.” Jeongyeon narrowed her eyes.

“She has a big test coming up. She spent the night at my house so I could help her study. She must’ve kept at it after I fell asleep. You know how she can get.” Sana finished laying out her lunch and held up a spoonful of rice up to the blonde’s mouth.

Jeongyeon hesitated, “I know how you can get. You and Momo baby Mina to the point that it’s almost as if she was your own child. There’s no way you would let her not get any sleep. You would’ve made sure she did.”

“First of all, thank you for knowing how I can get.” Sana winked, moving the spoon forward, “Second, we don’t baby her that much. Ah~” She motioned for Jeongyeon to open her mouth.

Jeongyeon gave in and leaned forward, opening her mouth to the food offering.

“And third, I don’t know what to tell you, Jeongyeon-ah. All I know is what I know.”

The blonde’s brow furrowed as she chewed. She was sure something was going on with Mina; Sana had to be hiding something. Jeongyeon was so deep in thought she didn’t notice the grain of rice stuck to her bottom lip.

“But, hey,” Sana called her girlfriend’s attention back to her, “Thank you for caring about her so much. You’re so cute when you’re worried.”

She giggled and leaned forward. Jeongyeon’s eyes widened when she felt a wet pressure swipe across her bottom lip. Sana pulled away, chewing on the stray rice grain. Jeongyeon blushed. It’s been a while since they had lunch together like this.

Sana smiled and started digging into her food, “But you know who is acting weird? Nayeon. Have you talked to her lately? I saw her yesterday morning after you left and she totally ignored me.”

Unlike her girlfriend, Jeongyeon was a lot easier to read and she knew it. She started choking on the food in her mouth.

Sana handed her a water bottle and looked at her expectantly.

“ _Shit, I can’t tell her about Jennie... but she’ll know if I’m lying…_ ” Jeongyeon gulped the water down, trying to think of something to say.

“Uh, yeah, um, I saw her yesterday when I was walking home with Chaeng. The only thing I noticed was that she wasn’t with Momo.” Jeongyeon hoped she shared enough of the truth to get away without telling the whole story.

“Momo walked home with me and Mina yesterday. Remember? When you dropped me off at the gate?” Sana looked at her questioningly. Jeongyeon may be easy to read, but she was pretty sharp; she wasn’t class representative and star captain of the softball team for nothing.

“Oh, yeah,” she stuttered, “I forgot, I guess.” Jeongyeon took another nervous sip of water before changing the subject, “Chaeyoung told me you got breakfast for her too yesterday.”

The light-haired girl’s eyes lit up, “Yeah! We got her and Dahyun something this morning too! And Mina, Momo, and I are walking them home today, after school.”

Jeongyeon clenched her jaw as she felt her chest tighten a little. Her jealousy was always easy to recognize (yeah, they were only middle schoolers but Sana was still her girlfriend), “So, what you’re saying is that you got those two brats breakfast but not your girlfriend?”

“Hey,” Sana gently lifted the blonde girl’s chin with her finger. Jeongyeon looked up to meet her sultry gaze, “I always have something you.”

Jeongyeon’s entire face flushed and she felt something pool in her gut. This always happened when Sana looked at her that way.

The Japanese girl had always loved the idea of skinship and it only progressed further since the two started dating. Jeongyeon, however, tended to be a little more reserved. The farthest they’ve ever gotten were a couple light make out sessions and, whenever Sana started getting too handsy, Jeongyeon always found a way out. The blonde felt bad for constantly denying her, but she was also incredibly thankful the light-haired girl always let her off the hook. She knew Sana was too kind-hearted to force her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

Sana sensed the change in Jeongyeon’s tension and quickly moved the conversation along, “So, guess what? I think Dahyun might like someone.”

Jeongyeon’s eyes widened in surprise, “Really?! Who?! I think Chaeyoung might like someone too.”

“Chaeyoung-chan? Oooh, maybe I’ll ask her about it later today.” Sana smiled coyly.

“Aw, leave her alone. I don’t think she’s ready to tell anybody just yet,” Jeongyeon ignored Sana’s expression, “But tell me more about this possible crush Dahyun has.”

Sana leaned forward and gestured for Jeongyeon to come in closer before she whispered, “I think she has a crush on me.”

“WHAT!” Jeongyeon practically jumped up from her seat, garnering attention from everyone in the room. Sana giggled and urged her to sit back down.

“It’s okay, I’m your girlfriend. You don’t need to worry,” She grabbed the tall girl’s hand reassuringly, “I think it’s cute.”

“How do you know?” Jeongyeon questioned as she tried to play off what just happened.

Sana leaned back and resumed eating her food, “I just have a feeling.”

“A feeling?” The blonde’s brow knitted together.

“Yeah, like the feeling I had when we first met.”

It took Jeongyeon a second to process what she just said, “What?”

Sana continued to munch on her lunch, “I mean, there’s no way you were a cute, shy, stuttering mess all the time.”

“Well, I saw a pretty girl. What’d you expect?” Jeongyeon smiled, obviously pleased with her response.

“Oh? She’s learned to defend herself and not just blush at every compliment she gets.” Sana smirked as she leaned across the table once more. Jeongyeon’s eyes traveled down Sana’s face, from her pretty brown eyes, across her immaculate cheeks, until they settled on her lips.

Suddenly, the bell rang, marking the end of their lunch break. Jeongyeon sat back, sighing. Sana giggled as she watched her.

“Hey, Jeongyeonnie,” she called, “Walk me to class?”

Jeongyeon nodded and helped Sana pack away her lunch. She intertwined their fingers as they stood up from the table. Sana rest her head on the blonde’s shoulder, smiling at the the attention they were receiving.

“Oh, hey, did you hear about Jihyo getting asked out by Dan-” Jeongyeon asked as they made their way into the hallway.

“Yeah,” Sana answered coldly, her smile dropping.

“She’s had on a crush on him for a while now.” Jeongyeon continued, unaware of the other girl’s mood change.

“Good for her,” Sana let go of the blonde’s hand, “You know what, I actually have to do something really quick before class. I’ll see you later.”

Jeongyeon watched as Sana quickly navigated through the crowd of students, confused as to what just happened.

 

\-----

A/N: OH MY GOSH I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAITTTTT! i feel so bad > < i kept going back and forth on if i should cut this chapter a little short or not... but i did end up cutting it jus so could get this update out sooner for you guys haha but that also means i have a head start on chapter 6 ((: so hopefully i wont take so long getting the next update out for you

 

Again, IM SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! pls dont hate me )); Hope yall enjoy chapter 5!


	6. avoidance

Jihyo was sitting in class, watching the clock intently as her hand clasped around the small plastic bag of pills in her pocket. Seeing Mina earlier that day had her worried about the girl’s stomach; Mina would never ignore her so blatantly unless something was actually wrong. So, Jihyo went to the nurse’s office at lunch to get the girl some medicine and was determined to give it to her as soon as the bell rang.

The brunette began packing her belongings into her backpack hastily, despite the professor still scribbling chemical formulas across the board. When she looked back up at the clock, the bell started to ring and Jihyo was out the door in a flash.

The hallways gradually began to fill with rowdy students ready to leave school. Jihyo maneuvered her way quickly through the maze of hallways and before she knew it she had arrived at her destination: Mina’s locker. But the girl was no where in sight yet so Jihyo decided to stand look out on the opposite side of the hallway.

As she waited, the hallway grew more and more congested with people and she was beginning to catch the eye of a lot of them. Now, Jihyo wasn’t naïve; she knew that there’s been talk going around the school about Daniel asking her out and all these people staring at her right now had been a result of it. She could handle that, the stares. It was the people coming up to talk to her that she had a little more trouble dealing with.

     “Hey, aren’t you the girl Daniel asked out a couple days ago?”

     “Kang Daniel is so cute. You’re so lucky he asked you out.”

     “How did he do it?”

Jihyo just smiled courteously, nodding and chuckling awkwardly as she tried to ignore the growing horde of students around her. “Where the hell is Nayeon when I need her? Maybe she’d be able to distract all these people and keep them at bay.”

Mina was walking down the hallway to her locker when she saw a small crowd gathering right in front of it. Her forehead furrowed, “What’s going on?”

She slipped between the students toward her locker. The crowd shifted as she moved and her eyes landed on Jihyo at the center of the crowd. She was smiling but Mina could see the way the short girl’s jaw clenched. She felt her heart constrict at the sight. Mina knew that smile; it was fake, a cover up. Jihyo only smiled like that when she didn’t know what else to do. It pained her to see Jihyo, but it pained her even more to see the girl so distressed.

Jihyo turned and looked over, searching the crowd. Their eyes met and Mina saw all the anxiety melt away from the brunette’s eyes (“Her bright, pretty, sparkling eyes…No, snap out of it, Mina. Don’t start falling into her eyes now.”) and her taut jaw relax.

“Mina-ya!” Jihyo smiled as she called out.

The call brought Mina out of her trance. She quickly broke the connection and turned her attention to her locker, fiddling with the turn-dial lock.

“Mina-ya!” Jihyo tried again, waving to catch the other girl’s attention. The small group around her turned their heads to look at the apparent Mina, watching her dig through her locker. “Mina!” She waved her arm around more dramatically.

Jihyo lowered her hand as it dawned on her. She looked at the Japanese girl from head to toe. Her stomach didn’t seem to be hurting, in fact she didn’t look to be unwell at all. Was she choosing to ignore her? All apprehension melted away from Jihyo’s being and was immediately replaced with a fiery determination to get Mina’s attention.

“Yeah,” Jihyo raised her voice, projecting it to the point where it was bordering obnoxious, “Daniel asked me out two days ago in the quad.” Jihyo’s eyes dart over to Mina and saw her shoulders jerk up. “My friend, Mina, was there, actually,” Jihyo emphasized.

Mina whipped around look slightly annoyed. Jihyo took advantage of the contact and quickly tugged on her earlobe three times. There was no way Mina could ignore that. Jihyo looked at her expectantly but the girl just looked back at her sourly.

     “Omg, really?”

     “That’s so cute!”

     “How did he ask you?”

“Um,” Jihyo wasn’t expecting Mina to not respond. She pulled on her ear again.

Mina just turned back to her locker. The crowd began to press even further in on Jihyo, flooding her ears with questions, blocking Mina from her line of sight.

     “Do you have any plans yet?”

     “Where are you guys going?”

     “What are you guys going to do?”

Jihyo ignored them and struggled to regain sight of Mina. She pushed through the horde of noisy students to get to the girl’s locker but as she looked around, Mina was no where to be seen.

Jihyo’s heart sank a little. Was Mina avoiding her after all? A burning sensation ignited in her stomach and her hands balled into fists, determination shining in her eyes. If Mina was avoiding her, then Jihyo was determined to know why. She couldn’t stand the fact that she might have done something that had hurt Mina. She considered the Japanese girl to be one of her closest friends.

With a growing resolve burning within her, Jihyo marched straight through the crowd to find Jeongyeon and Nayeon.

 

~

 

Dahyun found herself grinning when she heard the last school bell ring for the day. She hurriedly stuffed her notes and books into her bag. She was actually going to walk home with Momo, Sana, and Mina again! Two days in a row! She couldn’t contain how ecstatic she was; she skipped all the way to her locker.

The dark-haired girl swiftly opened her locker and quickly gathered her belongings, “Got to hurry so I can meet Chaeng at her class. I don’t want to make them wait for us too long.” As she moved to close the locker door, Dahyun jumped back, startled to find the short girl beaming behind it.

“Are you ready to go?” Chaeyoung asked eagerly.

“I can tell that you are,” Dahyun chuckled at the sight of her usually calm and collected friend practically vibrating with excitement. Chaeyoung immediately stilled, her cheeks glowing pink, and Dahyun couldn’t help but laugh again at how cute she was, “But yeah, I’m ready. Let’s get this show on the road!”

Chaeyoung perked back up and hooked her arm around Dahyun’s as they made their way toward the exit. “So, did Sana say anything else?”

“She said that Momo unnie and Mina unnie are down to go. And then she asked if we wanted stop by a convenience store or café on the way home.” The two girls pushed through the school’s main doors and descended down the front steps. Dahyun unlinked her arm and started rummaging through her bag, “But I already got them snacks and candy from the school st- OOF!”

A person coming up the stairs bumped into Dahyun’s shoulder, knocking her bag out of her hands. Snack bags and notebooks littered the ground. The dark-haired girl gripped her shoulder and whipped around bowing, “Sorry!”

Chaeyoung turned back, pointing her finger menacingly, “Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

The tall figure turned around, their long flowing hair flipping over their shoulder (Wait, why was Chaeyoung so fixated on this person’s hair?) Their eyes met and Chaeyoung instantly recognized the person to be the same girl she had seen in the cafeteria earlier that day. It was hard to forget eyes like those. The short girl lowered her hand, in awe of how pretty the girl actually was. And very tall.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I should’ve looked where I was going. Did you get hurt?” Dahyun gave the girl a quick up-down to check that she was okay, then noticed that she hadn’t responded to her questions in any way, just stared back at her blankly. Suddenly, the tall girl bent down and started to pick up the dropped contents of Dahyun’s bag.

“Oh my gosh, is she really okay? Actually now that I get a really look, I don’t recognize her. Maybe she’s a foreign exchange student or a transfer?” The dark-haired girl crouched down to help.

“Are you okay? What’s your name?” Dahyun looked at her encouragingly, as she asked simpler questions and spoke at a lightly slower pace.

The tall girl kept her blank expression as she stood up straight, holding out a blue notebook with a couple of packets of jellies and chocolates on top of it, “Yes, I am okay. My name is Chou Tzuyu.”

“Oh, good, I’m glad to hear you’re not hurt. My name is Dahyun, by the way. Kim Dahyun” Dahyun stood back up too, taking the notebook from the other girl’s grasp and smiled, “Thank you for helping me pick all this up! So, Tzuyu, huh? Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around. What year are you?”

“Yes, I am a transfer student. I am from Taiwan. I am a second year.” Tzuyu’s response was almost robotic. Dahyun would have believed her to be an android if it wasn’t for her cute muddled pronunciation.

“I’m a second a year too!” Chaeyoung stepped forward, smiling. Tzuyu’s eyes moved from Dahyun to the short girl as she reached to grab her hand, “I’m Son Chaeyoung. Nice to meet you, Tzuyu. We can be friends if you want! I can show you around!”

The corners of the tall girl’s mouth upturned slightly and Dahyun thought she saw something like a sparkle flash in her eyes. The dark haired girl smiled. Chaeyoung had that effect on people, making them feel warm and welcome. Dahyun should know; she had, of course, experienced it first hand.

“Yes,” Tzuyu shook the shorter girl’s hand with a slight bow of her head, “I would like to be your friend.”

Chaeyoung’s dimple revealed itself as she smiled but before she could respond, a high voice called out to them from outside the school gate, “Chaeyoung-chan! Dahyun-chan! Where are youuuuuu?”

Chaeyoung immediately spun around, seemingly searching for the voice’s source. She spotted Sana waving at them with Momo and Mina peering over her shoulder. When she turned back around, she gave Dahyun a look of urgency and grabbed her arm to start running over.

Dahyun chuckled at Chaeyoung’s keen response to Sana’s call. The dark-haired girl smiled back at the tall girl as Chaeyoung dragged her away, “Right, sorry, Tzuyu. We have to go now but we should definitely hang out sometime!”

“It was nice meeting you Tzuyu! Catch you later!” Chaeyoung called out behind her, waving.

Tzuyu gave a small smile and raised her hand in farewell. Her expression fell blank again though as she stared on, watching the pair meet up with the three high schoolers waiting for them at the gate. She took note of the way Chaeyoung ran straight up to the girl with long light brown hair and how said girl greeted the her warmly with a pat on her head.

“Who was that?” Mina asked, looking back at the main building of the middle school as the tall girl turned to walk away.

“Just this pretty girl we ran into,” Dahyun grinned at the prospect of gaining yet another new friend, “She’s a transfer student.”

“Oh, pretty, eh?” Momo nudged Dahyun mischievously.

“Not as pretty as Sana!” Chaeyoung interjected.

A strange silence befell the group and, out of the corner of her eye, Dahyun thought she saw Mina smirk before Momo burst into laughter.

“Sana? Pretty?” Momo sputtered, “Yeah, right!”

“Shut up, Momoring.” Sana stepped toward Chaeyoung and cupped her face, “Aw, Chaeyoung-chan, you’re so sweet. Your cousin –and Momo over there- should take a page or two from your book.”

The middle school student felt her ears heat up instantaneously.

 

~

 

Nayeon’s brow knitted together as she advanced toward the school’s main doors distractedly; she couldn’t get the image of Momo’s face out of her head. “How in the world could I have done that to her”

She was so deep in thought she almost ran into someone standing in the hall. Her eyes trailed up from the ground, “Whoa, sorry, I-” Nayeon stopped mid-sentence when she saw who it was.

Jennie.

“Hey, Nayeon-ie, how’s it going? I missed you at lunch.” Jennie’s voice dripped with saccharine.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, I was catching up with Jihyo today.” Nayeon tried to side-step around the other girl, avoiding solid eye contact for as long as she could, but Jennie blocked her escape.

“That’s okay,” Jennie sidled up to Nayeon’s side and linked their arms, “We can home together again.”

The older girl instinctively froze at the contact. Out of all the students that followed her around, she had to pick Jennie to walk home with yesterday. Something didn’t sit right with Nayeon when it came to her; she had to end this before the other girl got any ideas.

“Actually, I was thinking…I want to walk alone today.” Nayeon slowly unhooked her arm from Jennie’s, taking a step back, “I got a lot on my mind and I just want some time to myself.”

“If there’s a lot on your mind, wouldn’t it be better to talk it out with someone?” Jennie took another step closer to Nayeon. The older girl moved back even further. There was a strange look in Jennie’s eyes that Nayeon likened to that of a predator enjoying the chase of their prey. The other girl smiled, but Nayeon felt no warmth from it. She felt her heart rate begin to increase.

“I need to get out of here but how?”

Nayeon attempted to maneuver her way around Jennie a second time, chuckling nervously as she went, “You’re right, it would be better to do that. But my parents asked me to pick some stuff up for dinner on the way home so it might be a little out of the way for you.”

Jennie intercepted her and pushed in closer, backing Nayeon up against the wall. She reached up to stroke her soft, dark hair before trailing her finger along the other girl’s jawline. She met Nayeon’s eyes with her own cold stare, lowering her voice to just above a whisper.

“I don’t mind at all Nayeon-ah.”

++meanwhile++ 

“So, you think she’s avoiding you?”

“Yeah… maybe… I don’t know, let’s just find Nayeon so I can fill you both in.”

Jeongyeon and Jihyo make their way down the hallway in search of the missing part of their trio. As they neared the exit, Jihyo suddenly stopped, catching her tall friend’s arm.

“Oh, crap, it’s Jennie.” The brunette whispered as she pulled Jeongyeon back so as not to be seen.

Jeongyeon looked over and saw the infamous fangirl cornering another student against the wall. The blonde recalled yesterday’s events when she saw Nayeon and Jennie hanging out after school and how the older girl ignored her and her cousin as she ran off with the last person Jeongyeon ever thought to see her with.

Jihyo craned her neck, trying to figure out who the student was, “I hope Nayeon’s not around. Looks like Jennie is being a little more forward than usual.”

Jeongyeon absentmindedly nodded her head. She wasn’t really listening, “Should I tell Jihyo what happened yesterday? What if she knows what’s up with Nayeon?”

“Wait a minute. Oh my god, that’s Nayeon.” The shorter girl’s voice pulled Jeongyeon out of her thoughts.

The two watched as Jennie pulled away to reveal Nayeon nodding her head somewhat reluctantly. Jennie then removed her hand from the wall and held her arm out for the older girl to take. Nayeon moved slowly as she scanned her surroundings to see if anyone was around to use as an excuse or a distraction or anything to keep her from hanging out with the notoriously obsessive girl. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair a little further down the hall and she was able to make out the forms of her two best friends trying to hide themselves in a doorway.

Jeongyeon only greeted her with a judging stare but when Nayeon looked to Jihyo, silently asking for help, the younger girl’s eyes softened in sympathy.

“Should we go over and get her? Why is she with Jennie?” Jihyo straightened up and took a step out from out of the doorway they were crouched in. Jeongyeon reached out to stop her from doing so.

“No,” the tall girl narrowed her eyes at Nayeon as Jennie led her out of the school building. “Let’s just leave it alone for now.”

Nayeon turned around once more, a pleading look in her eyes.

“But, look at her.” Jihyo tried to tug her arm out of Jeongyeon’s iron grip.

“I’m sure she can handle herself.” The tall girl finally released her friend’s arm.

Jihyo turned back just as Nayeon and Jennie exited through the gate and turned down the street. Rubbing the sore spot on her forearm, she returned her attention to Jeongyeon, “Okay, what just happened?” The two girls continued through the entrance hall and pushed through the main doors, “I thought Jennie was crazy. Did something happen that I don’t know about?”

Jeongyeon kept her eyes on the ground as she and Jihyo skipped down the front steps, “She doesn’t seem to know what’s going on with Nayeon. Maybe I should tell her; then we could try to figure this out together.”

The blonde drew in a deep breath, “Yeah, actually, I saw-”

“Jihyo!”

A deep voice called out from in ahead of them. The two girls looked up toward the gate to see Daniel running toward them.

“Daniel, hi!” A wide smile spread across Jihyo’s face, reaching up all the way to her eyes as they formed into little crescents. Jeongyeon watched as the girl’s cheeks took on a faint pink hue and she didn’t think it was from the crisp autumn air.

“Hi,” Daniel cleared his throat and straightened his uniform, “Um, I wanted to ask you- that is if you wanted to- um-”

Jihyo only giggled and tilted her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. (A death blow for the boy from what Jeongyeon could tell.)

Daniel’s eyes darted every which way before his focus settled on the ground in front of him. He coughed and took a deep breath, “Erm, do you, maybe, want to walk home together?”

The pink color spread from the brunette’s cheeks up to her ears as she felt her heartbeat quicken, “We haven’t even gone out on the first date yet and he wants to walk home together?”

“I was thinking we could maybe come up with a plan for Saturday?” Daniel quickly added.

“Oh, um, yeah!” Jihyo giggled and began twisting a lock of hair around her index finger, “That’s a good idea!”

This time a smile appeared on Daniel’s face and he quickly bowed his head to hide it, shifting his stance. When he looked back up, his eyes met Jihyo’s sparkling own. The two exchanged tentative glances, unable to control the excitement in their smiles. Daniel chuckled and Jihyo joined in, bringing her hands up to cover her rosy cheeks.

Jeongyeon just stood there, watching the short girl get more and more flustered by the second. If this is how she was acting when he just asked to walk her home, how was the actual date going to go? Now she had to go to the little date prep session this weekend to talk some sense into the girl. “Ahem,” The blonde coughed to break the tension in the air between the two in front of her.

Startled, Daniel and Jihyo jolted at the sound. Jihyo had completely forgotten Jeongyeon was still there. She looked over her shoulder to the tall girl, who just raised her eyebrows and blinked unassumingly in return. Jihyo got the message.

“Oh,” Jihyo turned back to face Daniel, “Sorry, Daniel, I actually promised to walk home with Jeongyeon.” She pointed back to the tall girl.

“Hi, I’m Yoo Jeongyeon. Nice to officially meet you.” Jeongyeon gave her signature smile and wave.

“Hi! Kang Daniel.” Daniel nodded, “Wow, friends with Yoo Jeongyeon, the school’s star softball player. That’s pretty cool.”

“I guess you could say I have friends in high places,” Jihyo fitted a smug look onto her face. Jeongyeon had to restrain herself from audibly gagging.

Daniel scratched the back of his head and adjusted the strap of his school bag, fidgeting, “I’ll say. I’m even more intimidated now.”

“Don’t be intimidated! Why are you intimidated?” Jihyo waved her hands, her eyes growing big, “There’s nothing to be intimidated of. I’ll see you on Saturday and we’ll have some intimidation free fun, I promise.”

Daniel couldn’t help but smile at her reaction, “Right. Okay, I’ll see you on Saturday then. I’m holding you to that promise though!” He winked before turning to jog out past the gates.

Jihyo felt her entire being warm up. She only grew warmer when Jeongyeon stepped up beside her and commented, “I’ve never heard someone say the word ‘intimidation’ that many times in one breath.”

“Shut up,” the younger girl hit the sports star playfully on the shoulder.

“Hey,” the blonde girl nudged back, “Do you want some help with date prep this Saturday?”

“Yes! Oh my god, I need all the help I can get. Nayeon’s coming too and that’s actually what I was going to ask Mina before I found out that she’s avoiding me.” Jihyo lowered her gaze, beginning to drift into thought.

Jeongyeon quickly perked up, “Well, Mina or no Mina, you count Yoo Jeongyeon in! Oh, I’ll ask Sana if she wants to join too! She’s usually pretty good when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

The short girl’s face brightened with a glimmer of hope, “Yeah! Maybe she can talk to Mina about getting over whatever is going on and ask if she wants to come too!”

It was obvious how much this Mina thing was bothering Jihyo. Jeongyeon made a mental note to tell Sana to convince Mina to go no matter what. There was no way Jihyo was going to get through that date with the Japanese girl on her mind on top of the already huge crush she has on Daniel.

“I’ll ask her,” Jeongyeon hooked her arm around Jihyo’s elbow, smiling warmly. The two made their way out through the gate and headed home.

 

~

 

Chaeyoung kept her eyes glued to the trio in front of her, traces of a scowl distorting her face. Momo and Sana strode on either side of Dahyun, pressing in ever closer with every step. Their giggles seemed to mock her as the younger girl clenched her jaw. She was itching to join in but she didn’t know how. From what she could tell, the two older girls were practically fawning over her friend; which was a completely new concept in and of itself.

Suddenly, Momo and Sana threw their arms around the dark-haired girl (Chaeyoung paid close attention to the way Sana’s hand clutched onto Dahyun’s shoulder). The short girl felt a familiar bubbling heat rise in her stomach. She flinched when she felt a soft squeeze on her wrist. Chaeyoung looked down to find her hand unconsciously clenched tight. She quickly released the tension in her fist and followed the arm of the person holding her wrist up to see Mina.

“You okay there?” Mina’s voice was soft and her smile was warm.

Chaeyoung relaxed her jaw, the corners of her mouth slightly turning up, “Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?”

The Japanese girl’s comforting grin morphed into a smirk, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re jealous.”

“Wh-what?” The sudden change of atmosphere took Chaeyoung by surprise. She never pegged Mina to be the mischievous type, “Jealous? Of who? Dahyun? I’m not jealous of Dahyun? Why would I be jealous of Dahyun?”

“Shut up, you’re only making it worse.” The middle schooler took a deep breath and brought her hand up to her chest.

Mina chuckled in response, “You’re so cute. Y’know, if you want to walk with Sana, all you have to do is ask. I know for a fact that she will definitely say yes.”

Chaeyoung’s ears were on fire and her heart beat in her chest harder than it ever had in her life. She didn’t know where to look. Did Mina know about her feelings for Sana?

Mina saw the panic rise in the younger girl’s eyes; maybe that was enough teasing for today. The warm smile returned to her face and she gave a reassuring squeeze to Chaeyoung’s shoulder. She pressed her index finger to her lips, letting the latter know that her secret was safe.

The alarm in Chaeyoung’s eyes subsided but her relief was short lived.

“Hey, Sattang!” Mina called to the three girls walking ahead of them. Sana flipped her light hair to look back at them, “Don’t forget that Chaeyoung-chan is here too.”

“Oh my gosh, Chaeyoung-chan!” Sana immediately let go of her hold on Dahyun and ran to Chaeyoung’s side, latching herself on to the shorter girl’s arm.

Chaeyoung’s neck shrunk into itself as she tried to hide the bright pink warmth she felt creeping up to her face; she only hoped Sana couldn’t hear the pounding in her chest.

“I’m so sorry, Chaeyoung-chan! I was so excited to walk with you – really! But then I got caught up in Dahyun’s story about what happened during your morning break and I can’t believe I forgot that I wanted to walk with you. I’m sorry!” Sana clung tighter around Chaeyoung’s arm, eyes full of genuine apology.

Chaeyoung couldn’t hold eye contact with the older girl for long and looked away, stuttering, “Oh, um, it-it’s okay. Yeah, what happened this morning was really weird. I understand.”

“What happened?” Mina asked.

Momo quickly answered in Japanese. Mina replied with her tinkling giggle and what seemed to be a witty comment. Sana jumped into the foreign conversation, her voice high and melodic, causing the other two to break into a fit of laughter.

Dahyun smiled at a lost-looking Chaeyoung, “I was just about to ask them to show you their Japanese skills. Aren’t they good? It’s so cool!”

Chaeyoung looked back at her friend with a tilt of her head, her face blank, “But aren’t they Japanese? It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that they’d be good at speaking their first language.”

“Do you know any Japanese, Chaeyeoung-chan?” Momo faced the younger girl.

“Just super basic stuff.”

“Ooh, like what?” Sana looked at her, excited and curious.

“L-like ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye,’ ‘I’m hungry,’ and,” Chaeyoung paused, questioning whether she should go on. Her eyes flitted around before meeting Sana’s, “’I like you.’”

The mischievous smirk returned to Mina’s face, “Do you like someone?”

The question caught Chaeyoung off guard, “Wh-what? I don’t – No, psh, no. I don’t like anyone.” Sana and Momo exchanged smug glances as Chaeyoung quickly added, “I mean I like you guys as friends, of course. But not in like a like-like kind of way.”

Dahyun felt a little sorry for her pink-cheeked friend, but she had never seen the short girl so nervous before; even she had to admit it was cute. She caught sight of Mina smirking at the flustered girl in the corner of her eye, “Uh-oh, does Mina unnie know something? Maybe I should do something before this gets out of hand.”

Momo’s suggestive voice recaptured the dark-haired girl’s attention, “Are you sure? Cause it kind of seems like you do.”

“I-I,” Chaeyoung stuttered out.

“Chaeyoung-chan, kawaii,” Sana cooed as she brushed the hair away from the younger girl’s face and pinched her cheek lightly.

Upon seeing her best friend’s reaction to the high schoolers’ ministrations, Dahyun jumped in to her rescue, “Do you like anyone, Momo unnie?”

“Ooh, I wanna know too!” Sana’s eyes widened with curiosity.

Momo blinked in consternation at the sudden redirection of attention on to her, “Um, no.” Her eyes flitted to Sana, then quickly away when she pictured the girl with her girlfriend, “No on in particular.”

“Aw, come on, Momoring. Really? There has to be someone; I don’t even remember the last time you had a crush,” Sana pouted.

Mina tapped her chin in thought, “Come to think of it, I don’t remember either.”

“Nope, no one,” Momo claimed. Eager to get the spotlight off of her, she jut a finger toward her friend, “What about you then, Sana?”

“She’s obviously going to say Jeongyeon,” Mina sighed, growing bored with the subject, until she saw the younger girl next to Sana clench her jaw at the mention of her cousin.

“Well, yeah. But you two are just so cute.” The light-haired girl looked between the two middle school students and reached up to smooth the top of Chaeyoung’s head, “I think I might have a mini girl crush on the both of you.”

Mina’s eyes softened at interaction between the two in front of her. When she looked over to Dahyun, the girl was cupping her cheeks in the palms of her hands, “Do you like anyone Dahyun-chan?”

Sana’s hand stilled atop Chaeyoung’s head as she trained her focus on the dark-haired girl, anticipating her answer.

Dahyun cleared her throat to answer bluntly, “Nah, I don’t like any one right now.”

“Wow, she’s pretty good at hiding it. It was pretty obvious that Chaeyoung was trying to hide something but Dahyun is a lot harder to read.” Sana knitted her brow together.

“Do you, Mina unnie?” Dahyun asked innocently.

Momo and Sana’s head jerked toward Mina. The youngest Japanese girl’s smile dropped immediately, “I-” A lump appeared in her throat and her mouth went dry.

Sana should’ve seen this coming; why didn’t she try to change the subject earlier? Detaching herself from Chaeyoung’s arm, she spoke a quick statement in Japanese, her tone more solemn than before. Mina’s eyes faltered as she murmured softly in her mother tongue, regaining the two older girls’ attention.

Chaeyoung studied Sana’s strained expression. It looked to be a cross between concern and anger (It’d be a lie to say that Chaeyoung didn’t find this tense Sana attractive but she decided not to dwell on it given the sudden mood change). She met Dahyun’s gaze and was relieved to see that she wasn’t the only one who was confused as to what just happened.

“What’s going on?” Dahyun silently mouthed. Chaeyoung just shrugged, wide-eyed. She really had no idea; all she knew was that she felt she was intruding on something as she examined Momo and Mina’s crestfallen expressions. When she looked back at Dahyun, the dark haired girl tilted her head with a raised brow, letting her know she had a plan to get out of this seemingly bleak turn of events.

“Oh, no! I forgot! Chaengie, don’t we have that thing to prepare for? We need to go to the store or something right?” Dahyun declared awkwardly.

“Oh y-yeah,” Chaeyoung played along, “that thing.”

“Oh? What thing? We can go to the store with you guys,” Momo offered.

Dahyun waved her hands hastily, “No, it’s okay. It’s just a school thing. You guys can go ahead; the store we’re going to is back toward the school. Thanks for hanging out with us though!” Dahyun grabbed Chaeyoung’s wrist, tugging on her to follow.

The short girl resisted her friend’s pull to bow to the three high schoolers, “Yeah, thank you!”

A soft smile graced Sana’s lips, “You’re welcome.”

“Anytime!” Momo waved while Mina gave a small smile and nodded.

Dahyun smiled warmly as she turned around to walk away, “That was weird, right? Like I wasn’t just imagining things?”

“No, it was definitely strange,” Chaeyoung agreed, walking beside her.

“I mean, did you feel that sudden mood change? It was like winter came early; I got chills.” The older girl shivered.

Chaeyoung stared at the ground, “Yeah, it didn’t feel right to listen in on it, even if we didn’t understand what was happening.”

“Whatever it was, I hope they’re okay.” Dahyun put her arm around the shorter girl’s frame. The two looked back at the trio to see them all huddled together and shuffling away.

\-----

Sorry this took so long!! Life has been beating my butt recently...but its okay because the update is done and its here! the next one will be shorter so hopefully hopefully hopefully it'll be out sooner. ive been apologizing to you guys a lot on here and i feel hella baaaaad ): THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME!! this is my first on-going story ever and you reading means so much to me.

Thank you!! ^^


	7. back on talking terms

“Do you think they caught on?” Momo asked nervously despite the cheerful smile on her face as she waved goodbye to Dahyun and Chaeyoung. She lowered her hand and turned to face Sana and Mina with a more troubled disposition, “Don’t you think we were acting kind of suspicious?”

Sana waved the bob-haired girl’s comment off, taking her place at Mina’s right side, “No way. You worry to much, Momoring. Now,” Sana smoothed over the top of the younger girl’s head gently, “What was it that you wanted to tell us?” Sana’s eyes were soft and comforting. Momo assumed her spot on Mina’s left side wearing her own encouraging expression and squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Mina couldn’t count the times she thought about how thankful she was for her two best friends. She clutched on to both their hands as if doing so allowed her to gain courage from their touch. “I saw her again before meeting up with you and Dahyun and Chaeyoung-chan. She was waiting for me by my locker but there was a mini mob swarming around her, asking about… _that_.” Mina’s expression hardened, “She was trying to talk to me but I just got what I needed from my locker and left.”

“You avoided her again?” Momo popped her head forward to better gauge how Mina felt about the encounter.

“Again?” Sana voiced her confusion, “What do you mean ‘again?’”

Momo moved her eyes to answer Sana, “Mina and I ran into Nayeon and Jihyo in the hallway at break today. Jihyo was calling us over but Mina didn’t want to talk to her. And Nayeon…” Momo trailed off.

“Nayeon?” The tone of the older girl’s voice piqued Mina’s interest, “Did something happen between you and Nayeon?”

“I don’t know. She’s been kind of _distant_ lately. I kind of feel like she’s avoiding me.” Momo’s brow knitted together in thought.

“She’s been weird with me too!” Sana echoed.

Mina pursed her lips, “Wait, how long has this been going on? I remember you asking about her last night.”

“ _Last night?_ ” Sana looked over to Momo questioningly, “ _Why didn’t I hear anything about this?_ ”

“It’s okay, it’s not important. She’s probably just under a lot of stress or something.” The corner of Momo’s mouth curled upward, not quite reaching her eyes. Sana noticed and knew the girl was more concerned about this Nayeon thing than she was letting on.

“Momoring, I-” Sana’s text tone interrupted her. She fished her phone out from the side pocket of her school bag. It was a text from Jeongyeon.

{Jeongyeonnie <3, 3:58pm}:

Hi Sana-ya~ I’m going over to Jihyo’s on Saturday to help her get ready for her date with Kang Daniel and I told her I’d ask if you could come too since you’re so good at date prep and stuff. She’s really nervous about it and I know you would know just the right thing to say to make her feel better (: It’d mean a lot to her (and me!) if you were there to support her

Mina glanced at the screen, quickly reading the message. Sana saw that she caught a glimpse and turned the phone away. “I won’t go,” she stated simply.

“Go where?” Momo asked. She held her hand out as Sana passed the phone over.

“No, you should go,” Mina asserted, “Jeongyeon’s right; you are really good at these kinds of things.”

Momo was handing the phone back when the text tone rang again. Mina read the new message on the illuminated screen.

{Jeongyeonnie<3, 4:01}:

Jihyo wants Mina to come too! Can you ask her?

Momo’s eyes flashed to Mina, but the younger girl continued to stare at the text until the screen went black again. It made her so happy to hear that Jihyo _wanted_ her to be there but how could she support the very thing that tore her heart to shreds?

Sana snatched her phone and quickly pocketed it, “No, I won’t put you through that. I’m going to tell them that we’re not going.”

Mina blinked away the stinging sensation at the corners of her eyes, “Sana, it’s okay. You should go.” Even if it hurt to see her with Daniel, Mina wanted Jihyo to be happy and if Sana going to help her get ready was going to do that then so be it.

Sana rest an assuring hand on Mina’s shoulder, “I’ll talk to Jeongyeonnie about it and if I really have to go.”

Mina nodded with a weak smile.

 

~~~

 

Tzuyu trained her eyes on the school gate ahead of her. The street was packed but she didn’t have to do much to weave through the crowd; people usually got out of the way when they sensed the regal aura about her. She was well aware of all the stares she received everywhere she went. She didn’t know why people treated her that way; it always just sort of happened. But she was used to it so it was easy for her to ignore it most of the time.

The horde of middle school students cleared a narrow path for her all the way to the school gates. As she passed through, she caught sight of two familiar faces filled her with joy. It was the two girls she bumped into yesterday: Dahyun and Chaeyoung.

They were talking to two older students from the high school across the street, “ _Not the same ones from yesterday_ ,” Tzuyu observed. One was tall (almost as tall as her from the looks of it) with tousled short blonde hair and the other was a considerably shorter brunette (closer to Chaeyoung’s height). Tzuyu’s eyes to softened at the thought of the smaller girl’s name. She gingerly stepped toward them, listening in on their conversation.

“Yeah, we were with Momo, Sana, and Mina unnie yesterday,” Dahyun nodded at an enquiring Jihyo. Jeongyeon eyed the younger girl carefully when she said her girlfriend’s name. She was trying to figure out a way to confirm Sana’s suspicion of Dahyun’s crush on her.

Jihyo replied with a string of questions, “How was Mina? Was she okay? Did she have a stomach ache or anything?”

“She seemed fine to me. It didn’t look like she had a stomach ache but…” Chaeyoung answered, quickly locking eyes with Dahyun.

Should she mention that weird vibe they felt when the three Japanese girls suddenly broke into their native language? Dahyun shook her head; it wouldn’t do any good to make Jihyo and Jeongyeon worry about something they, themselves, knew nothing about.

“Yeah, no, nothing wrong,” Chaeyoung finished.

Jihyo crossed her arms. That confirmed it then. Mina really was avoiding her. Now all she had to do was find out why, then she could remedy it and this whole debacle would be behind them.

As Jeongyeon continued to scrutinize Dahyun, she noticed a tall, dark-haired girl staring at them from a little farther back, by the school gate, “Hey, do you guys know that girl?” She nodded coolly toward the entrance.

The two younger girls turned around. Upon seeing who it was, a toothy grin appeared on Chaeyoung’s face, “Tzuyu-ah!”

Dahyun was grinning too and she waved for the girl to join the huddle.

A small smile formed on Tzuyu’s face and a warm feeling spread through her body. She slowly approached her new friends with their high school companions, bowing low in greeting.

“ _So pretty,_ ” Jihyo thought as she got a better look at the tall girl.

“Good morning, Tzuyu!” Dahyun greeted enthusiastically.

Chaeyoung hopped to Tzuyu’s side, “Yeah, good morning!”

“Hello, Dahyun and Chaeyoung. Good morning.” Tzuyu replied in her soft, muddled pronunciation. Dahyun found it to be just as cute as it was yesterday, if not more. And her politeness only added to it. The foreign girl’s smile wavered slightly when her eyes landed on the two older girls.

“Oh! Guys, this is Chou Tzuyu. She’s a transfer student from Taiwan. We met her yesterday,” Chaeyoung happily introduced their new friend.

“Hi, Tzuyu. I’m Jeongyeon. I’m Chaeyoung’s cousin.”

“And I’m her best friend, Jihyo!” Jihyo threw an arm around Jeongyeon’s shoulders, “I grew up with all of them. It’s nice to meet you!”

The two older girls smiled kindly. Tzuyu noticed the way some of the middle school students around them stopped to stare and whisper. A couple of high school students stopped outside the gate too.

Dahyun noticed Tzuyu picking up on all the attention on their small group, “Jeongyeon unnie is the star player of the high school’s softball team, Jihyo unnie just got asked out by one of the hottest guys at the high school, and I-”

“You?” Jihyo scoffed mockingly.

Dahyun put her hands on her waist proudly, “ _I_ am the talk of the town.”

Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow, “The what of the what now?”

“Dahyun was the center of attention yesterday,” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “People wouldn’t leave her alone.”

“Why?” Jihyo looked at Dahyun in fake disbelief.

Dahyun removed her hands from her waist and shrugged, “Sana, Momo, and Mina unnie. I guess some people saw me walking home with them two days ago and wanted to find out more.”

“I believe those three being together attracted a lot of attention, but you being the center of attention?” Jeongyeon smirked playfully, “I’m going to need some evidence.”

“Well, Tzuyu was there!” Chaeyoung nudged the tall girl, “She can tell you.”

Tzuyu looked down to see Chaeyoung nodding for her to say something, “Um, yes. Dahyun was really the center of attention at morning break yesterday. Everyone was gathering around her in the cafeteria.” She looked back to Chaeyoung who gave a thumbs up. Tzuyu smiled, pleased with her answer.

“Wow, Dahyun-ah, look at you Miss popular,” Jihyo chuckled, patting Dahyun’s shoulder.

“Didn’t know you had it in you.” Jeongyeon rustled her dark hair. Dahyun beamed proudly. “Anyway, we should probably get going, Jihyo.”

Jihyo didn’t move; her eyes were back on the tall girl standing next to Chaeyoung.

Jeongyeon waved her hand in front of the brunette’s face, “Hello? Earth to Park Jihyo? We have to get to homeroom.”

“Hm?” Jihyo shook her head, her eyes fluttering as she broke out of her daze, “Oh, yeah. Bye, guys! Don’t let the popularity get to your head. It was nice meeting you Tzuyu!”

“Yeah, nice meeting you.” Jeongyeon flashed her signature student president smile.

Tzuyu smiled back, bowing slightly, “Yes. It was a pleasure meeting you as well.”

Dahyun and Chaeyoung waved goodbye to the two high schoolers and turned back to face Tzuyu.

“You seem to know a lot of high schoolers. I saw you were walking home with a couple yesterday too,” Tzuyu commented.

Dahyun directed her thumb behind her toward the high school, “Yeah, they’re all Jeongyeon unnie’s friends.”

“They’re pretty…” Tzuyu said in a flat tone, thinking back to the light-haired girl who greeted Chaeyoung so affectionately yesterday.

“You’re pretty too, Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung rest her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder with a goofy grin and a sparkle in her eyes.

Tzuyu’s heart skipped a beat looking down at her. She couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. A dimple on her left cheek revealed itself, “Thank you. You are too.”

Dahyun chuckled loudly, “Yeah, pretty short.”

“Hey! Low blow!” Chaeyoung protested.

“Um, duh. How else am I supposed to hit you?” Dahyun punched the space in front of Chaeyoung, aiming exaggeratingly low, “Right, Tzuyu?”

The dark-haired girl turned to Tzuyu, her eyebrows raised in expectation. Chaeyoung looked at her, silently pleading her not to play along. Tzuyu closed her eyes and took a breath, “I don’t even see her? Is she here? Chaeyoung?” Tzuyu raised her palm to her brow bone as if searching for something, looking directly over Chaeyoung’s head. Dahyun burst into guttural laughter.

“Ugh, whatever. I get it; I’m short,” Chaeyoung pouted. She looked up to see Dahyun with her arm hung around Tzuyu’s frame, the two giggling. She smiled to herself at the sight and turned to hide it, walking toward the main building, the sound of her friends’ footsteps not far behind.

 

~

 

The bell rang, indicating the start of lunch break. Jeongyeon gathered her things and geared herself up to look for Nayeon. She figured the best place to start would be her locker.

When Jeongyeon arrived, the older girl was already rummaging through the metal compartment. Nayeon looked deep in thought when the blonde crept up behind her, “Had to fend off any crazy fans lately?”

Nayeon flinched, almost dropping the book in her hand, and Jeongyeon had to snicker at her reaction. The older girl immediately recognized whose laugh it was and rolled her eyes, trying to disregard Jeongyeon’s fingers poking at her neck and shoulders, “Not right now, Jeongyeon. I’m not in the mood.”

Jeongyeon stopped her teasing, her smile morphing into a more serious expression. She didn’t realize this called for a more direct approach, “Hey, seriously, what’s going on? I haven’t seen you these past few days. Why are you hanging out with _Jennie_?”

Nayeon responded with silence, seemingly ignoring everything the blonde was saying. She stuffed the notebooks in her hand into her bag and slammed her locker shut. Hoping her that was enough to get the softball player to stop talking to her, Nayeon turned to walk away but a firm grip on her shoulder kept her from moving.

“Nayeon, please? I’m your best friend. You can tell me anything; you know that,” Jeongyeon’s voice was consoling yet somehow stern at the same time.

Nayeon sighed, pinching bridge of her nose. She hated it when Jeongyeon pulled the best friend card. She hated it because it was true; she could tell her anything and everything (okay, maybe not _everything_ ). Nayeon was still unsure if wanted to unpack her inner turmoil on to the blonde but when she turned around and saw the sincerity in Jeongyeon’s eyes, she knew she couldn’t not say anything.

“It was a mistake,” Nayeon conceded, “Momo and I got into a dumb fight.”

 _“Because of you and your precious little girlfriend,_ ” she mentally commented.

Jeongyeon relaxed a little when Nayeon finally spoke to her, “But Jennie? Really?”

“I was being stupid,” Nayeon’s gaze fell to the floor.

“ _I just wanted something_ she _couldn’t take away from me._ ” She eyed the blonde girl in front of her longingly, “ _I still do_.”

“I’ll say you were,” Jeongyeon lightly punched the older girl on the shoulder, chuckling. Nayeon smiled; she didn’t realize how much she missed her teasing. “What were you two fighting about anyway?”

Nayeon threw a punch back, answering softly, “It wasn’t even a fight really…it was all my fault.”

“Well, whatever happened, like I said, you can tell me anything. I’m here for you,” Jeongyeon brushed away the older girl’s fist off her arm and enveloped her in a tight hug.

Nayeon’s eyes widened. Jeongyeon rarely ever initiated hugs with her. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her best friend. This was why she fell for Jeongyeon in the first place: She may have a tough exterior but she would do everything in her power to help others, even if it came as an inconvenience to her. She was such a caring and thoughtful person. Extremely so.

Jeongyeon gazed down the hall where she spotted Sana and Momo heading in their direction. She pulled away from the hug and motioned for Nayeon to turn around, “Looks like you have a chance to fix things.”

Nayeon locked eyes with Momo. The Japanese girl visibly tensed up upon the connection, clear hesitation in her eyes.

++meanwhile++

Sana and Momo made their way around the bustling students in the hall, arm-in-arm. Once they reached a clearing and they were able to walk beside each other, Sana turned to face Momo.

“So, Nayeon’s been acting weird around you too?” She asked, picking up the conversation they had yesterday.

Momo’s face contorted. She was still trying to think of something that might’ve happened that could have caused the older girl to start acting so strange. The way Nayeon ignored her yesterday flashed in her memory and she felt a twinge of guilt twist in her gut. “Yeah, but I don’t know why,” Momo said in a distant voice.

Sana scratched her temple, trying to recall if she had done anything that upset Nayeon, “You two have been hanging out a lot, huh?”

“I guess…” Momo answered distractedly. She froze when she caught sight of Nayeon and Jeongyeon a little further down the hall. She locked eyes with Nayeon and that yearning feeling in her chest returned. She hesitated, her body tensing up; what if Nayeon reacted the same way she did yesterday?

“Momoring?” Sana looked over to where Momo was staring, “Oh, Jeongyeonnie.”

Suddenly, the bob-haired girl broke out into a run toward the the pair down the hall. Nayeon froze in shock before melting into her second surprise hug of the day. Momo wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s shoulders, settling into the crook of her neck and breathing in the familiar scent. Nayeon squeezed Momo and slightly lifted her off the ground. She grinned widely at the sound of Momo’s giggle, “I missed you.”

Sana strolled up next to Jeongyeon smiling at the heartwarming sight. She interlaced her fingers with the blonde’s, who was wearing the same motherly smile.

“We’ll let you guys catch up.” Jeongyeon led Sana away to leave the two girls to their reunion.

 

~

 

Jihyo sighed as she walked up and down the aisles of bookshelves of the school library. She was looking for a history book to help boost her research paper. She picked one out that looked promising enough and headed over to the study area to take a look. Before she even started searching for a place to sit, she spotted Mina sitting alone at one of the tables, studying diligently. Jihyo’s first instinct was to not bother her but then realized that this is her chance to get Mina’s attention. Besides, the quiet girl wouldn’t think to cause a scene in the library. It was the perfect scenario.

The brunette casually walked over to the table Mina was seated at and plopped down in the chair a seat or two diagonally away from the studying girl. She lightly dropped the book on the table and looked up to check if Mina had noticed her but the Japanese girl remained unbothered, her brow knotted in concentration. As Jihyo stared at her, it dawned on her how much she really missed Mina. She even missed just studying together like this. Sure, it had only been a couple days but that was already a couple days too long without Mina to hang out with.

With a huff of determination, Jihyo moved over to the seat directly in front of Mina. Just as she had hoped, this seemed to catch her attention.

Mina thought it weird for the person sitting a little further down from her to move from their perfectly fine seat over there to the one right in front of her. She glanced up to shoot them a judging scowl only meet Jihyo’s round eyes.

Mina was taken aback by the rush of emotions that hit her as she stared into the soft brown orbs she missed so much: frustration, aggravation, pain, sadness, longing. All she knew was that she did not want to deal with it right now. She tore her eyes away and went back to studying, completely ignoring Jihyo and blocking her out of her mind.

Jihyo should’ve expected as much; she already knew the Japanese girl was avoiding her. She took a notebook and her pencil case out of her school bag, fishing around for a purple pen (which she knew to be Mina’s favorite). She scribbled something on the corner of her notebook and tore the piece off, folding it neatly and tossing it onto the pages of the book Mina was reading. The note had a winking smiley face with her name scrawled across. Mina’s eyebrows furrowed slightly and she looked up at the girl across from her with contempt. Jihyo winked back at her. Mina coldly brushed the folded paper aside and resumed her reading.

Mina saw Jihyo lower her head back down in her peripheral vision and before long another folded note appeared in front of her, this one with her name surrounded by little hearts and stars. Mina brushed it off to the side where it settled next to the initial note. She hadn’t even resumed reading when a third one appeared then a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth.

Mina closed her eyes, inhaling a calming breath, and thought she might as well get it over with and see what the brunette girl wanted. She picked up a random note from the small pile in front of her. Like all the others it had her name on it but this one had the cute little sunflower that always made an appearance in Jihyo’s doodles (another one of her favorites). She opened it and it simply read:

HI (:

Mina looked across the table to Jihyo who was innocently looking around before offering a playful smile.

“Please stop. I’m trying to study.” Mina threw the small piece of paper to the side with the other discarded notes. She caught sight of the librarian looking in their direction suspiciously and quickly went back to studying.

Jihyo sighed softly, giving up for now, “Sorry.” She got up and left.

When she heard the door close, Mina looked up, her eyes falling on the book the brunette had left behind.

 

~

 

Nayeon and Momo sat at one of the tables out in the quad, despite the brisk autumn air. A somewhat awkward silence weighed down on them.

“Momo, I-” Nayeon started.

“I’m sorry!” The older girl’s eyes rounded, startled by Momo’s outburst, “Whatever I did, I’m sorry for doing it!”

Nayeon’s expression softened to a smile when she saw the Japanese girl’s cute pout with her eyes tightly shut in apology. There was nothing in the world that Momo could do that would make Nayeon angry at her, “You didn’t do anything wrong, Momoring,” Nayeon pet the bob-haired girl’s head gently.

Momo opened her eyes questioningly, “Oh… I didn’t? Then why have you…?” Her voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry for being so weird lately,” Nayeon took Momo’s small hands into her own.

“Hmm,” the younger girl hummed in thought. If it wasn’t something she did, then what was it? Was it something Nayeon did? Was Momo the one who was supposed to mad? Because she wasn’t. She was confused. It didn’t matter to her anyway because right now she just felt relieved to have Nayeon back.

“And I’m sorry for avoiding you…” Nayeon softly squeezed Momo’s hands.

“ _So, she did do something,_ ” Momo hid her mischievous smirk, “ _Nothing wrong with a little payback then, right?_ ”

She pulled her hands away from the older girl and crossed her arms dramatically, her chin and nose pointed to the sky in feigned hostility, “Hmph, well, you should be.”

“I am. I really am.” Nayeon reached a hand out to rest on Momo’s arm, but she avoided the touch, turning her body completely away. Nayeon watched her frame shake up and down, “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Momo’s shoulders stilled and silence filled the space around them again as Nayeon waited for her response, “Yeah,” Momo’s voice was quiet, “You can help me finish all these grapes!”

Momo swiftly whipped around to throw a grape at the older girl’s face. It bounced off her cheek and all Nayeon could do was look at the cheery girl in front of her in bewilderment, “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” Momo tossed another grape into her lap.

Nayeon picked the grape up and placed it on the table, “I don’t know. Because I was being a bitch to you for no real reason?”

“Well, I was a little confused as to why you wouldn’t talk to me,” Momo popped a grape into her mouth, “And a little sad. I thought _you_ were mad at _me_.”

“I could never be mad at you, Momo,” Nayeon looked her square in the eyes, trying to communicate just how sincere her apology really was.

“Oh really?” A devilish grin spread across Momo’s face, “Not even if I did this?” She leaned in closer and poured the rest of the grapes over the girl’s head.

Nayeon met the younger girl’s mischievous grin with her own, “Oh, now you’ve done it.” She picked a bunch of grapes up from her lap and tossed them back at the bob-haired girl, who started firing back. Momo laughed along as they threw grapes at each other.

Then Nayeon’s eyes landed on someone glaring at them from across the quad. Her smile faltered as she held Jennie’s stare. Nayeon flashed a quick look of warning, telling Jennie not to come over, “ _Don’t. Leave us alone._ ”

Jennie narrowed her eyes, looking back at her sharply but turned to walk in the opposite direction with a flip of her hair.

“Nayeon?” Momo regained Nayeon’s attention.

“Yeah?” Her smile returned at the sound of Momo saying her name.

“I really mean it.”

Nayeon tilted her head, confused, “What?”

Momo’s eyes darted to and fro before meeting Nayeon’s inquiring eyes, “I missed you.”

It was in this moment, looking at Momo here and now, that Nayeon knew there was no way she could ever be mad at her. Nayeon couldn’t believe how could Momo ever think that was a possibility.

 

~

 

“Have you figured out what’s been going on with Nayeon?” Sana queried, taking a seat at their usual table in the cafeteria, “That little reunion thing out in the hall with Momo was a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“ _Crap,_ ” Jeongyeon thought she had done enough convincing yesterday that nothing was really going on. She wasn’t about to tell Sana that Nayeon and Momo had apparently gotten into some sort of argument, if it could even be called that judging by what Nayeon was explaining to her earlier. It would just make her worry. The blonde already had a hunch about Sana helping Mina get through something; she didn’t want her girlfriend to add Nayeon and Momo to her list of things to worry about.

“I don’t know, Nayeon just told me she was being stupid,” Jeongyeon sat down in the spot opposite to Sana, “Has Momo said anything?”

Sana tapped her chin daintily, looking up in thought, “Not really.”

She thought back to the conversation she, Momo, and Mina had yesterday on the way home. Something was definitely going on between Nayeon and Momo. She set the thought aside. As long as her friends were happy, that was all Sana really cared about.

“Nayeon calling herself stupid doesn’t sound very Nayeon-like,” Sana unpacked her lunch from her bag, “Are you sure there’s nothing weird going on?”

Jeongyeon’s body tensed. Sana was eerily good at figuring things out.

The light-haired girl didn’t notice her girlfriend’s nervous reaction as she started digging into her food, “I guess it doesn’t matter if they’re okay now.”

Jeongyeon sighed in relief, “You can ask Nayeon about it on Saturday.”

“Saturday?” Sana said through a mouthful of bread.

“At Jihyo’s date prep. She’s really nervous about it and she wants you to be there,” the blonde wiped some crumbs off the corner of Sana’s mouth and looked up to see the Japanese girl’s heated glare (Sana knew where this was going), “She asked if you could bring Mina along too,” Jeongyeon’s voice shrunk when Sana’s composed countenance returned.

“I don’t really want to go,” the light-haired girl exhaled calmly.

Jeongyeon was confused. She thought Sana loved this dating stuff. Why didn’t she want to go?

“Did something happen between you and Jihyo that I don’t know about?” Jeongyeon knitted her eyebrows.

Sana halted her movements. A burning sensation started to boil inside her but when she looked up to her girlfriend it morphed into a pool of guilt in her stomach. She knew it wasn’t Jihyo’s fault that Mina had her heart broken. The brunette didn’t even do anything wrong; Sana just couldn’t stand that one of her best friends had to go through so much agony the past few days while Jihyo was floating on cloud nine.

“No, nothing happened,” the Japanese girl’s serious features allayed. In the end, Jihyo was still Sana’s friend and it wasn’t fair to her that she had been so mean. Sana sighed, “I’ll go, if it really means that much to her, but I’m not forcing Mina to go if she doesn’t want to.”

A giant smile spread across Jeongyeon’s face, causing her eyes to form small crescents. She grabbed both of Sana’s hands and kissed them, “Deal! Thank you, Sana-ya! Jihyo will be so happy to hear that you’re coming to cheer her on.”

Sana melted at the sight, “Aw, Jeongyeonnie, you’re so cute!” She reached a hand up to pinch Jeongyeon’s cheek.

The taller girl responded with an uncharacteristic pout, “Saturday, then! We’re going together so I can make sure you won’t flake.”

The light-haired girl eye smiled back sweetly, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

 

~

 

Mina absentmindedly tapped her pen to the song flowing through her headphones as she read the textbook laid out in front of her, jotting down notes every now and then. She was so focused on her studies; she didn’t even notice the head that poked in through the doorway.

Jihyo slipped into the classroom slowly so as to not gain the studying girl’s attention. This time she was determined to confront Mina directly. The brunette only took a few confident strides over to the only occupied desk before she noticed that Mina didn’t have any food out. She sighed defeatedly. With a change of purpose in her step, Jihyo promptly sat down in the seat in front of Mina.

The Japanese girl dropped her pen, startled by the unexpected presence of someone else in the room. Suddenly, a small wrapped parcel of food appeared next to her pencil bag. Annoyance rose up in Mina’s chest as she watched Jihyo wordlessly unpack her own lunch around the study materials already splayed out on the desk. She opened her mouth to protest the other girl’s actions but, before she had the chance to say anything, Jihyo spun around to eat the portion of food she made for herself.

Mina looked from the back of the brunette’s head to the food laid out around her books (half portions of everything Jihyo had brought for lunch that day). She tried to fit an irritated look on her face to tell Jihyo to leave her alone but she wasn’t angry or annoyed at all. In truth, she was happy, relieved even, about how thoughtful Jihyo was being considering the way Mina had been avoiding her these past few days. The girl’s naturally caring nature is what made Mina like her in the first place.

Mina picked up the other half of the sandwich next to her pencil bag and took a big bite. Upon hearing the rustle of the plastic wrapper, Jihyo turned back to see Mina’s cheeks swollen with food as she chewed. The brunette giggled at the familiar sight and Mina couldn’t help but join in.

“Hi, Mina,” Jihyo covered her mouth, her eyes crinkling from the smile she couldn’t contain.

Mina giggled, “Hi, Jihyo.”

“Oh, it’s good to know we’re on talking terms again,” Jihyo teased. Mina’s happy expression wavered. Jihyo noticed and picked out a cookie from one of the baggies on the table, holding it out as a sort of peace offering, “That’s not to say I’m not glad that we are.”

Mina’s mood brightened once more as she accepted the sweet treat, “Yeah…sorry about that.”

The shorter girl shifted in her chair to face Mina more comfortably. “Why were you avoiding me, anyway?” Jihyo asked as nonchalant as possible. She had brainstormed a few possibilities before but still had no idea what it could be.

Mina stopped chewing, wracking her brain to come up with something, fast. She had figured it would be easier to avoid Jihyo if she could get the brunette to be mad at her. That was the reason behind her being so mean, but she hadn’t anticipated Jihyo to react with a fierce resolve to understand why she was acting that way rather than anger. And she wasn’t about to tell the girl it was because she was in love with her.

“I have a big test coming up. I was just trying to stay focused,” Mina lied, lacking conviction in her voice.

Jihyo raised a suspicious eyebrow. She wasn’t buying it; hell, Mina didn’t even believe herself.

“Fine, it’s because, um, because I,” Mina’s eyes darted around as if searching for a valid excuse in her surroundings.

Jihyo recognized the frazzled look in her eyes and decided to help her out with a suggestion (one related to her previous brainstorm), “Because you’re jealous?”

Mina froze. Her eyes widened and suddenly everything around her fell out of focus. She swore she felt her heart stop beating.

“ _JACKPOT_ ,” Jihyo thought when she saw the other girl’s reaction. She had guessed right.

“Ah, that’s it. You’re jealous of me going out with Daniel. I didn’t know you liked him too. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mina’s heart resumed beating and her tunnel vision subsided, “Oh, uh, I don’t know. I could ask you the same thing. Why didn’t you tell me?” She played along with Jihyo’s conclusion.

“Hmm.” Jihyo scrunched her nose in contemplation, “I guess we’ve never really talked about crushes before. But I’m so sorry, Mina. If I had known you liked him too, I would’ve said no.”

Mina took in the sight of the brunette’s apologetic eyes and the way her voice lilted at the end of her words, signifying that she really meant what she was saying.

“No, no it’s okay. What’s done is done.” An awkward tension nestled between the two as Mina’s words rang through the empty classroom.

The Japanese girl self-consciously took a bite of her sandwich. Jihyo watched as Mina munched slowly, staring down blankly at her notes on the table, “Mina? It would actually mean a lot to me if you could come over this weekend to help me get ready for the date. I’m really nervous about it and you being there would help a lot.”

Mina didn’t move, just continued to chew her food slowly.

“Please?” Jihyo placed a gentle hand on Mina’s arm, “You calm me down, Minari. I feel like everything is going to be alright when I’m with you.”

Mina’s heart ached listening to Jihyo talk about her date with someone else but seeing how much she wanted her there was enough to convince her. Besides, how could she say no to the girl when she was practically begging her to go?

“Okay,” she said quietly at first, still staring down at her notes. She finally brought her gaze up to meet Jihyo’s round eyes, “Okay. If you want me to be there, then I’ll go.”

Jihyo’s eyes sparkled with gratefulness. She glomped on to the seated girl, almost toppling the desk between them over, “Oh my gosh thank you so much, Mina-ya! You’re the best!”

Mina giggled playfully, “I am, aren’t I?”

“Hey, now, don’t go getting a big head. I’m the one going on the date, remember?”

Mina pull back from the embrace to shoot the girl a jocular glare.

“Too soon?” Jihyo asked remorsefully. The other girl smirked and rolled her eyes. Jihyo pulled her back in for another hug, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Mina’s smirk melted into a smile and returned the hug. She inhaled Jihyo’s bright citrus scent and sighed, “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

It wasn’t a lie. Jihyo’s happiness was Mina’s top priority, even if it came at the expense of hers.

 

\-----

ah ch7 is finally here! had kind of a rough time with this one…idk why > _< anyway, i hope it doesn’t disappoint! think of it as an early holiday present from me ((: the next update will more than likely happen in the new year so with that being said,, HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!

ps: i accept kudos and comments as presents

pps: my birthday is in early january and the above would still be appreciated as acceptable gifts

Thank you for reading! ^^


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